- Reports suggest that Italy wants EU bailout fund doubled
- Bondholders could face additional losses on Greek debt- FT
- IIF say creditors have reached their voluntary limit
- Croatia votes to join EU
- EZ FinMins meet today
- German and French bill auctions later today
- Australian Q4 final goods PPI +0.3% QoQ, +2.9% YoY
- Much of the regions markets are closed for the first half of the week; Nikkei +0.15%, All Ords -0.3%. Gold $1669/oz; Oil $98.10/bbl
EUR opened lower in early interbank trade as dealers eyed stops below 1.2875. The news out of the EZ wasn’t particularly good, with Italy supposedly looking for a doubling of the bailout fund, but such headlines are normal for the EUR. Stops were tripped on the way to lows near 1.2850 but strong demand appeared from existing shorts, both in EUR/USD and in the EUR crosses. We haven’t quite managed to close the gap back to the NY closing level at 1.2930. Ranges: 1.2854/1.2907
AUD/USD tried to run lower on a few occasions but always ran into committed buyers. Option protection ahead of 1.0500 is capping for now. Wednesday’s CPI is the next event risk for the AUD but with China closed all week, we should expect a quiet trading week. Ranges: 1.0453/94
USD/JPY 76.90/77.07; Cable 1.5526/64; EUR/CHF 1.2068/82
