Market News

Well that seemed too good to last! The dollar let go of its winnings from earlier in the week as U.S. bond yields ticked lower while risk appetite peeked back in.  

The Canadian dollar weakened to a two-month low against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday after a surprise drop in domestic retail sales dented prospects for further Bank of Canada interest rate hikes over the coming months.

The European Union would not agree to a post-Brexit deal in which Britain would stick to the bloc’s rules in some areas, diverge moderately in others and go for distinctively different solutions for the rest, sources in Brussels said.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to a near 45-year low last week, pointing to strong job growth in February, which should continue to underpin the economy.

GBP added to its losses after the U.K.’s GDP report was released during the session. GBP wasn’t the biggest loser, though, since that (dis)honor goes to EUR. As for the session’s champ, that happens to be JPY, likely because of the risk-off vibes.

World stocks tumbled to one-week lows on Thursday after the U.S. Fed confirmed it was on track to raise interest rates several times this year, sending bond yields to new multi-year highs.

Howdy, forex friends! Canada’s retail sales report ain’t the only top-tier event risk since Canada will also be releasing its CPI report this Friday. And I just so happen to have an Event Preview for that top-tier report as well, so read up!

The Bank of Japan should consider buying foreign bonds as part of efforts to reflate the economy during Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s second term at the central bank helm, an economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

The low-yielding yen dominated the forex scene as overall risk aversion overshadowed the Fed’s hawkish FOMC minutes and the return of Chinese traders from their holiday.

The dollar rose to a one-week high against a basket of major currencies on Thursday, after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting showed policymakers were more confident of the need to keep raising interest rates.

The Greenback tossed and turned for the most part of the trading session, getting support from upbeat PMI readings then dipping around the release of the FOMC minutes before recovering again.

Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) will support a decision by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives to back Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann to become the head of the European Central Bank, the newspaper Die Zeit reported on Wednesday.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and other top monetary policy officials from the central bank were speaking to the Treasury Committee in Britain’s parliament on Wednesday. Here is a selection of their comments.

Britain wants to discuss with the European Union the length of any post-Brexit transition period, saying its government agrees it should be around two years but must be long enough to prepare “new processes” and “new systems.”

The yen really enjoyed the risk-off vibes during the session, so much so that it ended up being the top-performing currency of the session. The pound, meanwhile, got swamped by sellers before and after the U.K.’s jobs report was released.

The dollar rose to its highest level in a week on Wednesday and world stocks fell for the third day as investors braced for minutes from the Fed’s last policy meeting to see if they would herald more rises in interest rates and global bond yields.

How y’all doing, forex friends! Canada will be releasing its retail sales report tomorrow. So if you need to read up on what happened last time and what’s expected this time around, then today’s Event Preview is just what you need.

The Aussie and yen were the biggest movers, as forex traders priced in a weak report from Australia while preparing for today’s FOMC meeting minutes.

Gold prices fell further on Wednesday and hit a one-week low as the dollar steadied after a recovery from last week’s three-year low, while investors awaited the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting for clues on the pace of interest rate hikes this year.

The Greenback closed in positive territory for the second day in a row as risk aversion seems to be present. Equities ended up in the red while commodity currencies also took hits.