- ISM April manufacturing index 54.8 vs 53.0 exp
- Employment 57.3 vs 56.1 prior
- New orders 58.2 vs 54.5
- Irish PM says a ‘no’ vote would cut off ESM funds
- Fed’s Evans likes more QE
- Fed’s Lockhart skeptical of efficacy of more QE
- Fed’s Lacker sees 3% growth this year
- Fed’s Fisher: No QE3 unless economy tanks
- Fed’s Williams: US likely to grow 2.5% this year
- Fed’s Plosser: Expects 3% growth, 7.8% unemployment at year-end
- Hollande 53%, Sarkozy 47%
- BOC’s Carney: Tightening may become appropriate
- S&P 500 hits one-month high, up 0.6% to 1406
- DJIA closes at highest since Dec 2007
- CAD leads, AUD lags on day
Just before the ISM release, EUR/USD popped above stops at 1.3280 only to reverse to a session low 1.3204 before bids around the big figure kicked in. The first bounce was to 1.3225 but a run through buy stops at 1.3230 led to more, albeit modest, buying.
Most pairs followed a similar path, going from one session extreme to the other on the ISM headlines. GBP/USD fell to 1.6186 from 1.6248 while USD/CAD went from 0.9897 to 0.9832 and it was all consolidation from there.
USD/JPY also jumped on the ISM data, above offers at 80.00/10 but capped by 80.30 with a sideways drift to 80.15 afterwards, partly on a weak US equity close. The swath of Fed-speak had little effect as all the characters stuck to their usual scripts.
AUD/USD has been in slow recovery mode since the RBA cut, touching above 1.0350 briefly. Larger offers seen up around 1.04.
