North American Summary and Highlights 15 Apr
Overview - The USD advanced on strong US data and equity weakness as Middle East worries persisted.
North American session
The USD saw an early bounce as March US retail sales reported a stronger than expected 0.7% rise, 1.1% ex autos, with upward back month revisions adding further support. The USD’s bounce was briefly reversed as front end UST yields dipped on talk of an Israeli retaliation against Iran, though the positive USD tone soon resumed, particularly versus the riskier currencies, as equities turned negative.
EUR/USD slipped to 1.0625 from 1.0660 while USD/JPY rose to 154.20 from 153.95. EUR/GBP was fairly stable after European losses but EUR/CHF fell below .97 from .9730. AUD/USD fell to .6440 from .6480 while USD/CAD advanced to 1.3790 from 1.3740.
European morning session
A quiet European morning session saw both EURUSD and USD/JPY move marginally higher, so that EUR/JPY rose around 20 pips to 164. GBP made some gains, with GBP/USD rising around 30 pips to 1.2490, while the NOK fell, with EUR/NOK rising 5 figures to 11.63. The CAD and CHF also made small gains. The moves had no obvious trigger, but markets generally had a mild risk positive tone, with yields and equities a little higher and the oil price a little lower, suggesting reduced tension over the Middle East after the Iranian attack on Israel was effectively neutralised.