Trade War, White House Drama

The British Pound and the Japanese Yen post strong wins this week as the White House drama and a couple of mixed data affected the USD dollar growth.

Tuesday 13th March: Greenback Plunges as Trump Sacks Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

CAD

The Canadian dollar continued its slump on Tuesday after the BOC Governor Poloz’s speech indicated that the Canadian central bank might wait for a little bit longer.
USD/CAD surged from 1.2839 to a session high of 1.2985, CAD/JPY meanwhile plunged to a session low slid of 82.01, EUR/CAD started the session trading at 1.5844 before surging to a session high of 1.6052, and GBP/CAD ended the session trading at a high of 1.8131.

USD

The CPI figures didn’t come out as expected and this affected the greenback as it failed against most of its peers, except for the Loonie. President Donald Trump also sacking Secretary of State Rex Tillerson didn’t do the greenback any favors.

USD/JPY started the session at a high of 107.28 before plunging to 106.44, USD/CHF ended the session trading at 0.9440, EUR/USD meanwhile recovered from a session low of 1.2331 to attain a high of 1.2408, and GBP/USD attained a session high of 1.3994.

Wednesday 14th March: Greenback Falls After Retail Sales Falter But Rebounds Instantly

USD

The greenback was knocked down after disappointing retail sales report but rebounded almost immediately. The weak retail sales, however, indicate a lower contribution from spending to GDP this first quarter.

USD/JPY plunged to a low of 106.06 before bouncing back to end the session at 106.39, EUR/USD meanwhile attained a high of 1.2398 before plunging to 1.2348, and GBP/USD, on the other hand, is still trading below the 1.40000 region.

EUR

The Euro was under pressure prior to the morning London session. The currency’s situation only got worse, with Euro eventually becoming the worst-performing currency of the session. The plunge in the price of the EUR began when ECB Governor Draghi gave his speech.

EUR/USD plunged by 12 pips or -0.09% to end the session at 1.2377, EUR/GBP also plunged but by 17 pips or -0.19% to trade at 0.8856, and EUR/AUD fell by 54 pips or -0.34% to finish the session trading at 1.5667

Thursday 15th March: Yen Extends Gains, Loonie Reacts to Trade War Talks

JPY

The Japanese Yen extended its gains yesterday during the London session as ended up as the best performing currency of the day.

The lingering trade war fears did the Greenback no favors while signs of risk-taking in Europe were also present during the session. These factors in addition to the slump in global bond yields aided the Yen in sustaining its gains against its major peers.

USD/JPY fell by 10 pips or -0.10% to finish the session at 105.97, GBP/JPY also fell by 64 pips or -0.43%, trading at 147.62 by the end of the session, and AUD/JPY also plunged by 30 pips or -036% to finish at 83.14

CHF

The Swiss Franc edged out competition from the Greenback and ended up as the second best-performing currency during the London session. This was achieved despite the decision by the SNB to maintain its monetary policy as well as the bank’s promise to help out in the forex market.
The Swissy was most likely helped by the current trade war fears and the currency took full advantage of it.
USD/CHF plunged by 2 pips or -0.02% to finish the session at 0.9454, NZD/CHF also fell but by 20 pips or -0.29% to trade at 0.6898, and AUD/CHF was down by 11 pips or -0.14% to 0.7426

USD

The greenback was leading most of its peers for the large part of the session before giving up on some of its gains to the JPY.
The pair of EUR/USD fell from 1.2362 to a session low of 1.2300, USD/CHF meanwhile surged to 0.9521, and GBP/USD, on the other hand, slumped to 1.3930.

CAD

The Loonie was the second worst-performing currency at the session, with the catalyst for this being Canada’s disappointing reports and trade war talks.

Our Forex Trading team sent a USDCAD Forex signal to buy at 1.2970 and that trade activated on March 14th. By March 15th – all 3 of our take/profit targets were achieved.

Eventually, the USD/CAD surged past the 1.3000 handle to reach a session high of 1.3070, CAD/JPY meanwhile plunged to 81.15, and EUR/CAD attained a session high of 1.6104,

Friday 16th March: Euro Steady, Shrugs Off Weak CPI Report

EUR/USD recorded some gains today. At the moment, the pair is trading around the 1.2329 region, which represents an increase of 20% over the past 24 hours. The EURO was able to shake off weak CPI report which affected it yesterday. The final CPI of the Eurozone was disappointing, with the 1.1% recorded falling short of the 1.3% that was estimated.

The economy of the region has been on the rebound. However, inflation level is still below the ECB target which is under 2%. The final CPI of the Eurozone has been on the decline over the past few months and the trend continued in February. The CPI was the weakest gain recorded since December 2016.