What you need to take care of on Friday, August 19:
The greenback strengthened during US trading hours, soaring across the FX board. Market players assessed several encouraging US macroeconomic figures that suggest the economy has a good chance of skipping a recession, despite technically on it.
Investors changed their minds regarding the latest Federal Reserve announcement. The Minutes from the latest FOMC Meeting published on Wednesday were initially seen as dovish, particularly considering policymakers expressed their concerns about the risk of raising the rate benchmark to a level it would become more a problem than a solution.
Nevertheless, the latest US figures hint at a much better situation than initially feared. Inflation has finally begun easing while the employment sector remains solid. Additionally, other indicators related to business activity have surprised to the upside.
US Federal Reserve officials were on the wires with a mixed message. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Neel Kashkari said that if they keep raising rates, the risk of a recession could increase, although he does not believe the county is currently in a recession. On the other hand, the usual hawk, Bank of St. Louis Jim Bullard said he is leaning towards another 75 bps rate hike in September.
The EUR/USD pair plunged below the 1.0100 mark and trades near a daily low of 1.0078. GBP/USD, in the meantime, trades around 1.1930.
Safe-haven rivals are ending Thursday near their intraday lows against the dollar, with USD/CHF at around 0.9560, while USD/JPY trades at 135.95.
The AUD/USD pair trades around 0.6910/20, with the aussie additionally weighed by dismal Australian employment figures. USD/CAD stands at 1.2940, as Canadian Industrial Production unexpectedly contracted in July.
The broad dollar's strength pushed gold to a fresh weekly low of $1,755.30 a troy ounce. Crude oil prices, on the other hand, recovered their bullish poise, and the barrel of WTI currently stands at around $90.50 a barrel.
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