The USD is ending the day in a race for the weakest of the major currencies with the EUR (the EUR just nudged out the USD for the weakest distinction). However, the greenback is also well off lows after selling in US stocks abated a bit, and dip buyers came in.
The strongest to the weakest of the major currencies
The price action was helped in the European and early US session by lower yields. Yields remained down on the day at the close, but the forex market began to ignore and recover. The move back lower in the EURUSD (higher USD) was particular subject to up and down volatility. At session highs. The EURUSD reached 1.0884 and traded above the 100-day MA at 1.0871. With one hour to go in the trading day, the pair was down at 1.0847 and trading at new lows for the day.
The USDJPY also reacted negatively to the US stock decline earlier in the day falling to the 200 hour MA at 151.55 after trading as high as 151.91 in the European session. The price is trading at 151.75 near the middle of the range currently.
Even pairs like the AUDUSD and NZDUSD which are ending the day as the strongest of the major currencies, declined (USD higher) in the US session but still remained above closing levels from the previous days.
Part of the volatility may be a result of the CPI data which will be released tomorrow at 8;30 AM ET. The RBNZ will be announcing their rate decision in the new trading day (10 PM ET), and that may have been a catalyst for volatility and movement higher in that pair as traders position (or square up) for the decision.
US stocks were volatile and technical levels (like the 200-hour MA in the USDJPY) were also in play and an influence in some of the USDs moves today. For currency pairs like the EURUSD, they will announce their rate decision Thursday and trading at the highest level since March 21, may have frightened (and encouraged) some traders into taking some profit. The pair also tested the 61.8 of the March trading range at session highs which gave traders a technical reason to lighten up.
Looking at the US treasury market, the yields remained lower on the day despite what was a sloppy three year note auction (+2.0 basis point tail and a BTC well below the 6-month average). At the end of the day, a snapshot of the US yield curve shows:
- 2-year yield 4.744%, -4.4 basis points
- 5-year yield 4.377%, -5.7 basis points
- 10 year yield 4.365% -5.8 piece points
- 30-year yield 4.498%, -5.5 basis points
The U.S. Treasury will auction off tenure notes tomorrow in 30 year bonds on Thursday.
In the US stock market, the phone numbers are showing:
- Dow industrial average minus 9.13.0 or -0.02% at 38883.68
- S&P index +7.54 points or +0.14% at 5209.92
- NASDAQ +52.68 points or 0.32% at 16306.64
in the other markets:
- Crude oil is trading lower at $85.32 down $1.11 or -1.28%
- Gold continues its move to the upside with a gain of $13.70 or 0.59% at $2352.40. The intraday high reached $2365.30 (a new intraday high)
- Bitcoin traded above and below 70,000 but is trading at $68,959 currently. The high price reached 71,007 or 48 hours before rotating to the downside