North American Summary and Highlights 18 Mar
Overview - In a quiet day the USD ended a little firmer versus the EUR, but was little changed elsewhere.
North American session
The USD made ground against the European currencies and the AUD through the North American session, but was little changed against the JPY and CAD. EUR/USD lost around 30 pips to 1.0870, and AUD/USD around 20 pips to just above 0.6550, while GBP/USD held up slightly better.
There wasn’t much news of note, with the market awaiting the central bank meetings this week. March’s NAHB homebuilders’ index beat expectations, rising by 3 points to 51.
European morning session
The EUR made small gains against most currencies in a quiet European morning session. EUR/USD gained around 10 pips to trade above 1.09, while EUR/JPY gained 20 pips to 162.60. The NOK was the only G10 currency that held its own against the EUR, with EUR/NOK dropping slightly to 11.5350. Otherwise, the EUR was up small everywhere, with the USD broadly stable, losing ground to the EUR and NOK, and gaining slightly against the SEK and CAD.
There was no data of any note during the morning, with Eurozone final CPI in line with the preliminary release at 2.6% y/y.