- Irish Q3 GDP -1.9% q/q, -0.1% y/y Ughhhh!!
- EU/IMF/ECB inspectors aim to wrap up talks on new Greek bailout during mid-January visit – Senior Troika official
- Euro zone IMF plan raises risk for Germany, Bundesbank warns – FT Deutschland
- Rumour: Talk S&P to downgrade Spain and Italy on the London close today, but leave France for now
- Rumour: China to cut reserve requirement ratio (RRR) this weekend. Another rumour has them cutting it on Christmas Day!!
- EBA chief: Several national authorities having “second thoughts” about common rules for bank regulation
- ItalyPM: “Totally shares” fiscal discipline agenda
- Portugal PM: Crisis is about confidence in European project
- Japan Environment Minister: Prepared for decommissioning of Fukushima reactors to take more than 30 years
- French FinMin: France to reach deficit targets even if growth turns negative
- Euro zone October trade surplus 1.1 bln, pretty much in line with 1.0 bln median forecast. Septembers’ surplus cut to 2.7 bln from previous 2.9 bln
- Talk of ‘nuclear default’ sums up Left’s anger at EU dictates – AEP at The Telegraph
- Sarkozy rival calls ECB key to saving euro – WSJ
Anyone would think Christmas was just around the corner. Extremely boring trading conditions. Sell stops seen through 1.3000 in EUR/USD, buy stops through 1.3050, and we didn’t manage to trigger either. We sit at 1.3022 from 1.3026 when I sat down. Tells you all you need to know.
Anyways, rumour of imminent S&P downgrades for Italy and Spain (see above) saw us dip early to session low 1.3002. But despite rumour, periphery/German bond spreads narrowed nicely and this helped support the single currency.
We rallied back and for a little while it looked like the euro bulls might even manage to trip the aforementioned buy stops through 1.3050. The release of truly awful Irish growth data put the kibosh on that one. Rather downbeat comments from Troika/EBA officials (see above) didn’t help either.
Cable and USD/JPY effectively unchanged at 1.5535 and 77.90 respectively.
AUD/USD touch firmer at .9990 from early 9965. Rumour of imminent Chinese RRR cut (see above) will be helping lend some much-needed support.
