Oil Ends Week Down After Record Moves

Dollar Ends the Week Higher Despite Fed Rate Cut

The US dollar has traded with a firmer tone over the final European morning of the week and is on course to end the week just in the green. The post-FOMC sell-off has paused for now with the USD index trading 97.89 last, just up off the 97.73 overnight lows. With no key data scheduled for today’s US session, it looks likely to be a quiet end to the week.

EUR Still Bid

EURUSD remains lightly bid against USD today with price sitting above the 1.1025 level for now. Price action remains tightly congested following the post-ECB spike higher which was capped into the 1.1112 level. Looking ahead next week, a raft of eurozone PMI data could provide the catalyst for a fuller directional move.

GBP Ends The Week Higher

GBPUSD ends the week firmly in the green. GBP has rallied strongly off the 1.20 level and is almost testing the top of the bearish channel from year to date highs. The UK is now just five weeks out from the Brexit deadline and as the risk of a no-deal Brexit appears to have softened, GBP is seeing better demand.

SPX500 Back Near All-Time Highs

Risk assets have had a much quieter this week though with the Fed having followed the ECB and announced further easing, equities indices across the board are ending the week in the green. The improved tone to US-China relations is also helping sure up risk appetite. SPX500 trades 3008.68 last with price making it way back up to just shy of all-time highs.

JPY Weaker, Gold Flat

Safe havens have had a mixed end to the week. JPY is lower against USD while gold remains roughly unchanged. The Fed rate cut has failed to weaken USD against JPY despite the BOJ keeping rates on hold once again. However, the bank did up its bond purchases to steepen the curve, which has helped keep JPY down. USDJPY trades 107.96 last. XAUUSD trades 1503.91 last with price having recovered off the week’s lows as the dollar softened.

Crude Erases Saudi Strike Gains

Oil prices have ended the week firmly in the red after a record-breaking start to the week which saw crude exploding higher by over 20%. A more temperate tone from President Trump as well as assurance from Saudi Arabia that the will have restored full output by the end of the month has seen oil reversing the initial gains on the week. Crude trades 58.58 last, sitting back below the 58.82 level.

CAD Recovers on Friday

USDCAD has been a little softer over the final session of the week. The sell-off in crude this week has weighed on CAD though a better backdrop of improved US/China expectations is helping stem the weakness in CAD. CAD retails sales is the main domestic data scheduled for today’s session and is expected to have improved to 0.6% last month from the prior month’s 0% reading.

AUD Ends Week Lower

AUDUSD has ended the week lower against the USD. A dovish set of RBA meeting minutes earlier in the week has left the Aussie under heavy selling pressure. Midweek, AUD unemployment rate was seen higher over August, rising to 5.3% from 5.2% last which has added further bearish pressure.