- US initial jobless claims 348K vs 355K exp — lowest since 2008
- US Jan home price index -0.8% y/y
- Canadian retail sales +0.5% vs +1.7% exp
- US leading index +0.7% vs +0.6% exp
- Eurozone consumer confidence -19.0 vs -20.2 exp
- Dutch fin min wants to look at options for Portuguese aid
- EU pushes for larger firewall
- Fed’s Bullard warns on inflation
- Canada fin min says ‘modest’ cuts in next week’s budget
- Portugal approves EU fiscal compact
- SNB’s Danthine stresses readiness to defend cap
- Fed’s Evans says guidance on tightening may control inflation
- Fed’s Fisher: will not support further QE
- WSJ: European banks putting assets up for sale
- S&P 500 falls 0.7% to 1393
- JPY leads, commodity bloc lags
EUR/USD entered the session at 1.3161 and chopped sideways until late in Europe when it surged to 1.3202 in a broad wave of USD selling. The euro was unable to add to the momentum and now trades in the middle of the 1.3173/96 afternoon range.
A large USD/JPY buyer early in NA sparked a pop to 83.19 but declines continued soon after and selling was consistent down to 82.32, where strong bids were reporter. Now at 82.53.
AUD/USD was held up by a rumored option expiry at 1.0350 for a point but it eventually gave out, touching 1.0336. Just as the bears got bearish, the pair rebounded to 1.0388.
USD/CAD broke above parity as oil fell but was unable to climb over 1.0008; trading in a 20 pip range through the session.
Gold rebounded to $1643 after hitting a two-month low of $1628.