What you should know on Thursday, February 17:
The US dollar fell on Wednesday, despite upbeat US data releases and uncertainty related to border tensions with Russia and Ukraine. Additionally, the US Federal Reserve released the Minutes from the latest FOMC meeting, indicating that policymakers are willing to hike rates, but did not mention a 50bp move in March.
US retail sales rose 3.8% in January, much better than expected, while industrial production in the same month rose 1.4% vs. 0.4% expected.
As for geopolitical tensions, the latest on the matter was that the head of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service reported that Russia was moving about 10 battle groups to the area near Ukraine, where more groups are already expected.
European indices closed in the red with modest losses. Wall Street spent most of the day in the red but managed to recover. Post-FOMC minutes are now mixed around their opening levels.
Government bond yields remained at the upper end of their weekly range, with the 10-year US Treasury yield hovering around 2.05%.
EUR/USD is trading around 1.1390, while GBP/USD is flirting with 1.3600 amid broad USD weakness. AUD/USD is also higher, trading around 0.7200, while USD/CAD lags behind, hovering around 1.2670. Weaker oil prices cap the CAD as black gold pulled back sharply from its daily high and is trading around $92.50 a barrel.
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani tweeted that after weeks of intense talks, JCPOA participants, including the US and Iran, are closer than ever to a deal. However, he added that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
Safe haven currencies managed to advance against the dollar, with USD/CHF up to 0.9210.
Gold rose and is trading around $1,870 a troy ounce.
Source: Fx Street
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