Forex news for North American trading on Nov 25, 2016:

  • Saudi Arabia's refusal to meet non-OPEC producers signals deal at risk. Oil slides
  • Algerian oil minister headed to Iran to broker OPEC deal. Sees 'good basis' for deal
  • US Oct advance goods trade deficit $62.0 vs $59.0B expected
  • October 2016 US wholesale inventories -0.4% vs 0.2% exp m/m
  • November preliminary Markit US services PMI 54.7 vs 54.8 expected
  • Jill Stein files request for recount in Wisconsin
  • Rumored names for Trump's Treasury Secretary and what they might mean for markets
  • New York Fed Nowcast Q4 GDP forecast rises to 2.5% from 2.4%
  • Canada Sept budget deficit C$2.37B vs C$1.25B last September
  • S&P 500 hits another record high in holiday-shortened trading
  • November preliminary Markit US services PMI 54.7 vs 54.8 expected

Markets:

  • Gold down 55-cents to $1184
  • WTI crude down 4% to $46.06
  • S&P 500 up 8.6 points to 2213
  • NZD leads, CAD lags

The US dollar softened early, in part due to soft trade balance numbers but it recovered some lost ground later. In all, the market moves were relatively small because of the US Thanksgiving weekend.

Oil was the big story. Algeria's oil minister announced a last-minute trip to Tehran and then Saudi Arabia pulled out of plans to meet non-OPEC producers on Monday, saying they wanted a done deal first. Previously, members had touted a virtually done deal.

As oil slid, USD/CAD rose up to a high of 1.3534, that was 80 pips from the European lows but it couldn't convincingly break Thursday's high and it edged back to 1.3500 late.

EUR/USD made a push up to 1.0625 in a 40-pip spurt of buying into the options cut but it slowly unwound later and finished at 1.0589. Part of the selling was on worries about the sustainability of the EU after Turkey threatened to unleash waves if refugees.

USD/JPY was choppy in US trading in a range of 112.70 to 113.30. That's a decent swing for any day, let alone a holiday. It checked out each side a couple times but finished in the middle.

Cable generally crept higher as it started North American trade at 1.2435 and finished at 1.2477. There was plenty of chop in the move but it was steadily higher.

Have a great weekend!