North American Summary and Highlights 30 Jan
Overview - The USD advanced after Warsh was nominated for Fed Chair, with US data also supportive.
North American session
With former Governor Kevin Warsh confirmed as Trump’s choice for Fed Chair, the USD strengthened, while gold and silver plunged. Equities came under some pressure and UST yields edged lower. USD/JPY rose to 154.65 from 154 while EUR/USD fell to near 1.1850 from 1.1925 with little movement in EUR/GBP or EUR/CHF. AUD/USD found support below .6950 while USD/CAD advanced to 1.36.
US PPI was stronger than expected with a 0.5% December increase, 0.7% ex food and energy. Later the Chicago PMI bounced sharply to 54.0 in January from 42.7. Fed’s Bostic and Musalem argued against further easing while Waller and Miran showed differing reasons for their dovish dissents at the latest meeting, with Waller more concerned about downside labor market risks than Miran. Unchanged November Canadian GDP was weaker than expected, but December saw a preliminary estimate for a 0.1% increase.