Forex news for New York trading on October 16, 2017

Markets:

  • Gold down $10 to $1294
  • WTI crude up 39-cents to $51.48
  • S&P 500 up 4.5 points to 2557
  • US 10-year yields up 2.5 bps to 2.30%
  • USD leads, AUD lags

The US dollar got a bid late in the day on the combination of upbeat talk about North Korea and signals that Trump could put John Taylor in charge of the Federal Reserve. The North Korea talk was dismissed but the report said Trump was 'gushing' about Taylor.

Of the short list, John Taylor would likely be the most hawkish. His Taylor Rule argues for higher rates and he's supported it many times.

The talk boosted the front end of the curve and helped USD/JPY to 112.25 from 111.75 after hours of tight-range trading around 111.75 before that.

EUR/USD is testing the European low into the close. It's at 1.1793, not far from the European low of 1.1779. The pair hit as high as 1.1829 in New York trade but faded from there.

GBP/USD shuddered down to 1.3248 from 1.3295 on a report of a 'catastrophic breakdown' in talks. The headlines were a bit overdramatic because the story was full of conditions and the pair bounced back to 1.3285 but the USD bid late sent the pair down to a fresh low of 1.3225.

USD/CAD was the early story as it climbed from the start of London trade. It climbed steadily to 1.2530 from 1.2475. The BOC survey was a speedbump and led to a quick dip to 1.2510 but it was picked up and the pair hit a high of 1.2558 later despite solid commodity prices.

AUD/USD also sagged down to 0.7849, erasing nearly all of Friday's gain.