ForexLive Americas FX news wrap:

Markets:

  • S&P 500 up 12 points to 2739
  • Gold down $3.60 to $1321
  • US 10-year yields down 3 bps to 2.85%
  • Bitcoin down $560 to $9380
  • WTI crude oil down 83-cents to $60.32
  • CAD leads, CHF and EUR lag

All the build-up was on the tariff announcement and it was watered down, especially for Canada and Mexico, but the door was opened for everyone else to get an exemption as well. USD/CAD dropped to 1.2900 from 1.2950 as the exemptions for NAFTA countries were revealed. Earlier the pair had climbed higher in part due to weaker oil prices.

The bigger moves in markets were in European currencies. The first comments from Draghi were upbeat on growth but 2018 GDP forecast was only raised by 0.1 pp. So after the spike to 1.2446, EUR/USD slowly sank to 1.2298 at the lows and it finished just above the figure.

The Swiss franc and pound were also dragged lower and cable dipped below 1.3808, a more than 100 pip drop intraday.

In general, the US dollar was strong across the board and that helped USD/JPY above 106.00 as fears about a trade war are dampened.