Wrap for February 13, 2015
News
- Greece's Varoufakis says a haircut is preferable to loan extension
- Dollar jumps alongside oil and Treasury yields
- Constancio says there may be issues with buying large amounts of QE bonds
- Kremlin says the Fab Four will have a phone convo on Saturday night
- Forex technical trading: EURUSD looks to test support
- Forex technical trading: USDJPY story remains between the goal posts
- Forex technical trading: GBPUSD takes a breather in trading today
- USD/CAD leading the dollar charge lower as oil keeps on bubbling
- Forex technical trading: USDCAD keeping the sellers in control
- UBS are out with the rally hammer
- S&P makes new all time highs but backs off
- First ECB minutes to be published 19th Feb at 13.30 CET
- BOE says it may be impossible to measure too big to fail subsidy
- EU's Junker says Greece and EU are far from a deal - Livesquawk
- Spanish CPI can go further into negative figures says de Guindos
- Want to know when the major central banks are moving on policy?
- Another day, another knock back in rate expectations
- EU experts discussing Greek and Cyprus exits
CFTC commitment of traders report for the week ending February 10, 2015
The strongest and weakest currencies for the week starting February 9th
S&P gains 0.4% and closes at all time high price of 2096.99
Data
- January 2015 US import prices -2.8% vs -3.2% exp m/m
- Canada Manufacturing sales 1.7% vs 0.9% est
- February 2015 Michigan consumer sentiment survey flash 93.6 vs 98.1 exp
The US market traded quietly with narrow trading ranges for most of the major currency pairs. Monday will be a holiday in NY and Canada and the forex market traded as if traders were already on the way to the ski slopes.
On the economic front, the US Import prices were down less than expectations. However, when less is -2.8% for the month vs -.3.2% estimate, it is not a big deal. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was more of a shock as it declined to 93.6 from the 11 year high reading of 98.1 in January. The estimate was for little change. Although the index was lower than expectations, it still stands at the 2nd highest level since January 2004, and is also up from 81.6 a year ago. The current conditions index was lower at 103.1 vs. 109.3 prior. The expectations component declined to 87.5 vs. 91.0 last month.
In Canada, the manufacturing sales data came out stronger than expectations at 1.7%. This, combined with higher oil prices, helped send the USDCAD to the downside.
For the week, the strongest currency against its major currency peers was the New Zealand dollar. While the weakest currency was the Swiss franc. The US dollar for the week rose against the Swiss franc and the Australian dollar, but lost ground vs. the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, and New Zealand dollar.
European and US stock markets were higher on the day. The S&P and Russell 2000 indices both close that all-time high levels. For the week, all the major global stock indices were up. In the US the NASDAQ composite index led the way with a 3.15% gain for the week.
Gold was higher on the day a closed near the middle of its trading range.
