North American Summary and Highlights 25 October
Overview - While there was little significant news, the USD was broadly, if modestly, stronger.
North American session
The USD advanced in North America, most of the moves coming well after the day’s data. USD/JPY advanced to 153.35. EUR/USD slipped below 1.08 from 1.0835 and GBP/USD, after meeting resistance at 1.30 fell back to 1.2960. AUD/USD slipped to .66 from .6640 while USD/CAD rose to 1.3890 from 1.3840.
US September durable goods fell by 0.8% overall but rose a stronger than expected 0.5% ex transport. The Final October Michigan CSI was revised up to 74.1 from 72.9 but with the 1-year inflation view softer at 2.7% from 2.9%. August Canadian retail sales rise by 0.4% overall, but were weak at -0.7% ex autos.
European morning session
A quiet European morning saw USD/JPY gain 20 pips to 152.00 while the USD was marginally softer against the riskier currencies. EUR/USD was essentially unchanged over the session, but gained around 10 pips after the release of the German IFO survey and the Eurozone money data. The IFO survey showed modest gains in all the main indices, echoing the similar recovery seen in the German PMI indices on Thursday. Eurozone M3 was a little stronger than expected at 3.2% y/y. Most of the riskier currencies gained around 0.1% against the USD, but USD/CHF rose 10 pips and the scandis were little changed.