North American Summary and Highlights 6 Feb
Overview - The USD saw some gains in Europe but these were reversed and more in North America in a day with little major news.
North American session
The USD moved lower in a quiet North American session, which lacked news of any real note. EUR/USD gained around 20 pips to 1.0750, but the JPY was the best performer dropping nearly a big figure to 147.90. GBP also outperformed the EUR, gaining half a figure to test 1.26. USD/CAD also lost around half a figure, helped by a slightly stronger than expected IVEY PMI, despite building permits data having come in well below expectations.
Fed’s Mester and Bank of Canada Governor Macklem both expressed a cautious approach towards easing, but their comments generated little market response.
European morning session
The USD reversed the losses seen in Asia through the European morning session, with EUR/USD falling back below the Asia open to a low of 1.0725 after opening at 1.0750. EUR/USD actually saw some initial gains after a stronger than expected German manufacturing orders number for December, which showed a whopping 8.9% m/m rise and took the 3m/3m trend slightly above 0. However, the gains proved short-lived, with the decline helped by equities falling back after early gains.
Other currencies held up better against the USD, but generally returned to Asia opening levels after early gains, although the AUD outperformed slightly, holding gains of around 10 pips from the Asian open.
Other than the German orders data, there wasn’t a lot of news, with Eurozone retail sales marginally weaker than expected in December, and Italian confidence numbers edging a little higher, while UK construction PMI showed a modest gain.