North American Summary and Highlights 22 April
Overview - The USD erased Monday’s losses assisted by Treasury Secretary Bessent looking for de-escalation with China.
North American session
The USD continued to recover, largely erasing Monday’s losses as equities rallied and the UST curve flattened, also in corrections from Monday’s moves. The primary catalyst was a remark from Treasury Secretary Bessent, who saw the US-China trade situation as unsustainable and expected de-escalation.
USD/JPY led the way, advancing from 140.50 to 141.50. EUR/USD extended European losses to 1.1425. While the USD gains were broad based, USD/CAD was an exception, slipping to 1.3825 from 1.3860. AUD/CAD slipped to .88.
European morning session
The USD recovered a little through the European morning. EUR/USD dropped half a figure to trade sub 1.15, while USD/JPY also gained half a figure to 140.45. Crosses were relatively stable but the AUD underperformed slightly while scandis were a little stronger.
Datawise Swedish unemployment showed a sharp fall in March to 8.1% seasonally adjusted, completing the reversal of the sharp rise seen in January, but otherwise there was little of note.