North American Summary and Highlights 26 March

North American session

The UK spring statement had little impact, but GBP maintained its post-CPI losses. The USD had a generally positive tone early on, supported by stronger than expected February durable goods orders, up 0.9%, 0.7% ex transport, and USD/JPY advanced to a high of 150.75.

News that Trump was planning an announcement on auto tariffs sent equities lower. The hit to USD/JPY was modest, to around 150.50, but EUR/USD slipped to 1.0750 from 1.0785 while USD/CAD rose to test 1.43 from a low of 1.4235, despite Bank of Canada minutes from March 12 showing caution over future easing. AUD/USD fell below .63. Fed’s Musalem warned over the inflationary risks of tariffs. 

European morning session 

GBP fell back through the European morning after weaker than expected UK February CPI data. This came in at 2.8^% y/y against the 3.0% expected, down from 3.0% in January. EUR/GBP gained 20 pips to 0.8360, actually hitting a high at 0.8375 mid-session.  

Otherwise, Swedish consumer confidence data for March came in on the weak side of expectations, and despite better manufacturing confidence this brought down the economic tendency index for the month. But EUR/SEK was little changed. French consumer confidence also softened.