North American Summary and Highlights 21 August
Overview - The USD erased modest Asian and European losses in the North American session.
European and North American sessions
The USD saw some further slippage in the European morning but erased its Asian and European losses in North America. European PMI data was stronger than expected, manufacturing at 52.8 versus 51.8 expected and services marginally so at 51.7 versus 51.5 expected. US S and P PMI data later was mixed, manufacturing slipping to 53.2 from 53.9 but services impressively strong at 56.8 from 54.6. Gains in UST yields supported the USD.
Similar to Thursday trading, USD/JPY found support below 158.50 and returned to 159 while EUR/USD peaked near 1.7120 and slipped back to 1.1680. EUR/GBP saw marginal losses and EUR/CHF marginal gains. AUD/USD was however stronger, near .7180 from .7140. USD/CAD saw some volatility but ended little changed near 1.3760 as the latest deadline for a trade deal with the US approached. June Canadian retail sales were stronger than expected with a 0.6% increase but the preliminary estimate for July was weaker, down by 0.8%.