North American Summary and Highlights 26 February
Overview - The USD was mixed with Trump tariff comments hurting the EUR but giving brief support to the CAD.
North American session
Morning trade saw GBP/USD push higher, reaching 1.27, which helped drag EUR/USD above 1.05. Subsequent comments from Trump threatening 25% tariffs on the EU and postponing tariffs on Canada and Mexico to April saw EUR/USD reverse its gains and extended EUR/GBP losses to .8270, while USD/CAD slipped to 1.43 from 1.4350, though unlike the EUR/USD move, the USD/CAD dip was largely reversed.
UST yields slipped and equities gave up earlier gains after Trump’s remarks, and USD/JPY fell below 149, down almost a big figure. Data showed January new home sales down by 10.5% to 657k, but December was revised up to 734k from 698k, and market impact was minimal.
European morning session
Another quiet morning in Europe saw little change in the majors. The only significant moves were in the commodity currencies, with both AUD and CAD around 0.2% weaker. However, this was not a function of general risk aversion, as EUR/CHF also edged a little higher.
Datawise, French consumer confidence data showed a small rise, while German confidence fell to its lowest for a year. Nevertheless, European equities performed strongly, gaining around 1% through the morning.