 Trade talk optimism, trade pessimism, drove markets up and down last week. In the end, Presidents of US and China decided to give markets some lip service and boosted stocks towards weekly close. Words, rather than substance, are enough to make investors happy. Yen and Swiss Franc ended as the weakest ones on late rally in stocks. Sterling followed as the third weakest for the week, as Brexit impasse continued. But strong retail sales from UK did give the Pound a mild lift. On the other hand, commodity currencies made a strong come back. New Zealand Dollar ended as strongest as RBNZ did nothing to endorse market views that next move is a cut. Australian Dollar followed as second with help from the impression that US and China will finally make a trade deal. But the Aussie is set to face a string of tests in RBA minutes, wage price and employment data this week. Canadian Dollar was pulled up to third place by rallying oil prices, with WTI crude oil ended above 56 handle. |
