August US S&P Global services PMI 55.2 vs 54.0 expectedUS initial jobless claims 232K vs 230K expectedUS July existing home sales 3.95m vs 3.93m expectedEurozone August flash consumer confidence -13.4 vs -12.6 expectedFed’s Collins: Timing seems appropriate to begin easing monetary policyCollins: Soon is appropriate to begin cutting ratesHarker: We see softening in jobs from a very high levelHarker says he’s ready to start the process of cutting ratesFed’s Schmid: Rates are not overly restrictive, we have time to decideCanadian government says it’s exploring all options on ending rail lockoutUS 30-year TIPS sell at 2.055% vs 2.045% WIPreview: What to expect from Powell at Jackson HoleChicago Fed national activity index -0.34 vs +0.05 prior
Markets:
USD leads, JPY lagsWTI crude oil up 98-cents to $72.91US 10-year yields up 8.9 bps to 3.86%Gold down $29 to $2483S&P 500 down 0.9%
The recent theme in markets has been: Lower dollar, higher stocks, lower yields, lower oil. That completely reversed today in what’s equal measures of a technical retracement and worries about a hawkish speech from Powell at Jackson Hole. The moves were also helped along by another round of US data that showed an economy that’s plodding along.
US dollar strength intensified at 9 am ET and it was largely a one-leg move that chopped sideways afterwards. Falling stocks and a softer TIPS auction tried to give it fresh legs but the euro was reluctant to fall below 1.11 and that stemmed the move.
USD/JPY is the big mover on the day in what was a steady climb that started in Asia and then stalled in US trading. So far, sellers at 146.50 have held the line.
Commodity currencies were generally soft and AUD underperformed by a decent clip. in a retreat to 0.6700.
Gold and oil went in opposite direction in a reversal of the recent trend. Gold hit stops as it fell through $2495 but steadied and rebounded ahead of $2470. For oil, it was the first gain in 5 trading days.
This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.
