North American Summary and Highlights 27 Aug
Overview - Modest USD gains in the European morning were fully erased in North America, with little fresh news but focus on the Fed.
North American session
While there was no major news, the USD moved broadly lower, fully erasing gains seen in Asia and the European morning, with focus remaining on the Fed, in particular Trump’s efforts to dismiss Lisa Cook. Fed’s Williams made cautious comments saying it would be appropriate to ease at some point, though the USD slide started well after his remarks.
USD/JPY peaked at 148.18 before falling below 147.50. EUR/USD bounced through 1.16 peaking near 1.1650. GBP/USD peaked just above 1.35 after seeing a low of 1.3417. AUD/USD edged above .65 from a low of .6563 while USD/CAD fell below 1.38 from above 1.3850.
European morning session
The USD was generally stronger through the European morning. EUR/USD fell 30 pips to 1.1590 while USD/JPY gained 10 pips to 147.90. GBP held up better than the EUR, with GBP/USD losing just 10 pips to 1.3445. AUD/USD lost 20 pips to 0.6470 and USD/CAD rose 15 pips to 1.3455. EUR/NOK was unchanged and the EUR slipped a little lower against the CHF and SEK.
News was thin on the ground. The German GFK consumer confidence index for September was weaker than expected, following similar weakness in the French consumer confidence numbers on Tuesday. This, combined with continuing concerns about the French Budget ahead of a confidence vote next month, may have contributed to the softer EUR.