North American Summary and Highlights 2 Dec
Overview - In a mostly quiet day the USD saw a dip after Trump referred to Kevin Hassett as the potential Fed Chair.
North American session
The USD tried the upper end of the daily range early in the session, but had slipped to the lower end of the range by the afternoon. A further late dip came as Trump referred to Kevin Hassett who was present with him as the potential Fed Chair. The bond reaction was modest, but the curve steepened marginally. Earlier Trump had stated he had made his decision on the Fed Chair but would not announce it until early 2026.
Trump’s comment lifted EUR/USD, which had seen an earlier low below 1.16, to 1.1625. EUR/GBP was firmer near .88 from .8785 but GBP/USD recovered from two dips below 1.32 and EUR/CHF was weaker at .9335 from .9345. USD/JPY was only marginally lower near 155.90 and AUD/USD gains were similarly modest. USD/CAD however fell to 1.3970 from above 1.40.
European morning session
The USD made general gains through the European morning, most notably against the JPY, with USD/JPY rising 30 pips to 156.05. EUR/USD was only marginally softer at 1.1605, with the EUR making small gains of around 0.1% on all the crosses.
News was very limited, with Eurozone preliminary November CPI the only data. This showed a slightly stronger than expected headline rise of 2.2% but the core was as expected at 2.4%. The EUR did gain slightly on the European crosses after the data. The Eurozone unemployment rate for October was slightly higher than expected at 6.4%, though unchanged from September.