North American Summary and Highlights 10 May

North American session

A strong 90.4k increase in Canadian employment saw USD/CAD fall sharply to 1.3635 from 1.3680. After the Canadian data the USD initially saw modest gains versus the EUR and JPY but this had been more than fully erased before Michigan CSI data gave the USD a lift. While the headline index fell sharply to 67.4 from 77.2 higher inflation expectations (the 1-year view at 3.5% from 3.2% and the 5-10 year view at 3.1% from 3.0%) caught the market’s attention, the move possibly supported by hawkish comments from Fed’s Logan and Bowman around the same time. USD/CAD reversed most of its drop, though the USD bounce after the Michigan CSI faded elsewhere leaving the USD little changed overall. USD/JPY was a little firmer near 155.90. 

European morning session

GBP was slightly firmer in the European morning, following the stronger than expected Q1 UK GDP data which showed a rise of 0.6% against market expectations of a 0.4% increase. The strength was seen in both services and industrial production, although construction remained weak. However, from the expenditure side, most of the rise was due to weakness in imports, and this took some of the force out of the data. EUR/GBP finished only slightly lower at 0.8602 after opening near 0.8610. 

The NOK also made gains through the session, with EUR/NOK around 4 figures lower at 11.66 after a slightly stronger than expected Norwegian April core CPI rise of 4.4% y/y. Otherwise, there was little movement in FX.