North American Summary and Highlights 27 March

European and North American sessions

USD/JPY advanced to near 151 in Europe and marginally extended the move in North America, quickly rebounding from a brief dip as early gains in equities lost momentum. USD/CAD rose above 1.43 from a low of 1.4260. EUR/USD extended gains from near 1.0750 above 1.08 as equities lost ground before stabilizing near the figure. GBP/USD gains from near 1.29 peaked below 1.30. AUD/USD was fairly stable. 

Focus was on trade tensions and US data, even trade, had little impact. February’s advance goods trade deficit corrected to $147.9bn from $155.6bn in January, but was significantly wider than expected. Initial claims at 224k from 225k remain low. Q4 GDP was revised up to 2.4% from 2.3% but core PCE prices were revised down to 2.6% from 2.7%. Later February penning home sales recovered by 2.0% after a 4.6% January decline.