There wasn’t much on the economic docket for the New York session but the dollar managed to recover even as risk appetite stayed in play.
- U.S. factory orders down 0.8% vs. estimated 0.4% dip
- Australia’s AIG services index up from 55.2 to 59.0
- U.K. BRC retail sales monitor rebounded by 2.8% from earlier 4.2% drop
- U.K. PM May to Trump: Tariffs unjustified and deeply disappointing
- BOE MPC member Tenreyro: Rate hikes needed but timing is an open question
- Tenreyro: Tighter U.K. labor market likely to lift price pressures
- Nasdaq hit record closing high
Major Events/Reports:
Stocks up, commodities down
Wall Street traders must be GSW fans because they started the week on a very positive note, bringing the Nasdaq up to a record high close.
- Dow 30 index is up 178.48 points to 24,813.69 (+0.72%)
- S&P 500 index is up 12.25 points to 2,746.87 (+0.45%)
- Nasdaq is up 52.13 points to 7,606.46 (+0.69%)
Gold gave up some of its safe-haven wins and also slid lower when the dollar recovered. Crude oil was also in the red.
- Spot gold is down $1.81 to $1291.96 per troy ounce (-1.40%)
- WTI crude oil slipped $0.95 to $64.86 per barrel (-1.44%)
Keep in mind that oil traders are still worried about OPEC output deal adjustments while the latest set of Baker Hughes oil rig counts revealed a gain to 861 last week.
Dollar bears take a breather
Even with trade issues still lingering and downbeat medium-tier data, the U.S. dollar managed to pare most of its intraday losses.
Some analysts are attributing this to the confirmation that the date between Kim Jong-Un and Trump will push through while others think it may be a late reaction to the U.S. NFP release.
U.S. factory orders slipped 0.8% in April, twice as much as the estimated 0.4% slide, mostly due to lower aircraft orders. The March report enjoyed a slight upgrade from 1.6% to 1.7%.
Major Market Mover(s):
USD
Down but not out! The Greenback got back to its feet to erase some of its losses in the earlier sessions, despite the lack of clear catalysts.
EUR/USD retreated from 1.1721 to a low of 1.1683, USD/JPY is up from 109.45 to a high of 109.99, GBP/USD tumbled to a low of 1.3302, and USD/CHF is up to a high of .9890.
Watch Out For:
- 1:30 am GMT: Australian current account balance (-9.9B AUD expected, -14.0B AUD previous)
- 1:45 am GMT: Chinese Caixin services PMI (no change from 52.9 expected)
- 4:30 am GMT: RBA interest rate decision (Read the preview here!)