Forex news for March 9, 2015 US edition
- March 2015 US employment trends index 127.76 vs 127.9 prior
- New York Fed consumer expectations survey shows wages falling to 2.2% in Feb
- Fed's Mester: Sees growth above 3% this year and next
- February 2015 Canadian housing starts 156.3k vs 179.0k exp
- Greece may have cash to last 3 weeks says EU official
- Greek bank deposits have stabilized - report
- Traders have serious doubts the ECB will hit QE target
- Tighter oil storage talk lifts prices; WTI up 35-cents to $49.96
- Weidmann says he's 'sceptical' about need for ECB QE
- No sign ECB can't reach QE thresholds - Weidmann
- Gold flat at $1167
- US 10-year yields down 5.5 bps to 2.18%
- S&P 500 up 8 points to 2079
- GBP leads, JPY lags
US traders were groggy after clocks moved an hour ahead, or at least the market acted that way. The iEvent was an unhealthy distraction and the news couldn't grab anyone's attention as a new chapter gets underway in Greece.
On the economic side, perhaps the biggest story going forward will be the drop in Canadian housing starts. It's another sign of mounting trouble, although it only lifted the pair about 30 pips and it was all given back later as the pair bounced in a 1.2580 to 1.2610 range.
The driver in US trading was generally risk sentiment, namely an improving stock market after the rout on Friday. That boosted yen crosses before they pared the gains later in the day. USD/JPY started US trading near 120.90 and climbed as high as 121.40 before sliding back to 121.15.
Cable was the big winner on the day as it recovered almost half of a 200-pip rout on Friday. The early part of the day was consolidating in the 1.5100 to 1.5125 range and it actually broke to the downside first but there was little appetite to sell and the pair hit the session highs late and finished at 1.5126.
The euro made a move to the upside as London got going for the week. The start of ECB QE likely attracted equity inflows and that helped EUR/USD to 1.0905 but New York was less impressed and took another bounce as another opportunity to sell and it fell back to 1.0855.
