Equity Markets and USD Rise as US Could Tolerate NAFTA Deadline in 2019 for the Right Deal

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin gave an interview on NAFTA over the weekend where he said that President Trump is “more determined to have a good deal than he’s worried about any deadline”. He spoke about the US acceptance of the deadline slipping into 2019 once the right deal for the US is achieved. USDCAD is trading around 1.28735 with USDMXN trading around 19.90000. There is an element of “Risk on” this morning as equity markets moved up and USDJPY pushed to new highs. Gold has slipped lower while WTI Oil is higher, trading around $71.89.

Mnuchin also mentioned the US-China trade war and declared that it is currently ‘on hold’.

Canadian Consumer Price Index (MoM) (Apr) was 0.3% versus an expected 0.4% against 0.3% previously. Consumer Price Index (YoY) (Apr) was 2.2% versus an expected 2.3% against 2.3% previously.

Canadian Retail Sales ex Autos (MoM) (Mar) were -0.2% versus an expected 0.5%. Retail Sales (MoM) (Mar) were 0.6% against an expected 0.3% from 0.4% previously which was revised up to 0.5%. Retail sales exceeded expectations after missing expectations for the December and January readings with a higher revision welcome. USDCAD moved higher from 1.27961 to 1.28838 after the data release.

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Baker Hughes US Rig Count numbers matched the previous release last Friday, which showed that there were 844 Oil rigs in operation. With Oil at the highest levels in recent times, on the back of a bigger than expected draw in inventories on Wednesday; this data can set the tone for traders as they look to the week ahead.

Japanese Exports (YoY) (Apr) were released, coming in at 7.8% against an expected 8.1% from 2.1% previously. Imports (YoY) (Apr) were also released, coming in at 5.9% against an expected 9.6% from -0.6% previously. Merchandise Trade Balance Total (Apr) came in at ¥626.0B against an expected ¥405.6B. This data shows a fall in both Imports and Exports but an increase in the Trade Balance.

• EURUSD is down -0.18% overnight, trading around 1.17475.
• USDJPY is up 0.55% in the early session, trading at around 111.343
• GBPUSD is down -0.14% this morning trading around 1.34378.
• USDCAD is down -0.07% overnight, trading around 1.28715
• Gold is down -0.49% in early morning trading at around $1,286.41
• WTI is up 0.60% this morning, trading around $71.89

This article was written by FxPro