We spent nearly the entire session waiting for the results of the Eurogroup/IMF meeting on Greek debt in Brussels. No agreement was reached – they meet again on Monday Nov. 26.
Juncker:
- Technical work still needed on Greek Program
- Identified ‘credible’ ideas to bring down greek debt
- Greece has made ‘considerable efforts’
Lagarde:
- Gaps have closed, progress made, but more work needed
- Link to full text of statement from Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker (its very brief, pdf)
EUR had a range-bound day leading into the announcement of another meeting, 1.2803-1.2820, dipping below 1.2800 just prior to the statement; then after a headfake spike to 1.2822 traded steadily lower to 1.2736 before stabilizing.
AUD, NZD & GBP all traded lower with the EUR/USD on the announcement after range-bound days also.
Earlier in the day, USD/JPY was a strong gainer as the weak Yen trend continued, as high as 81.97.
Data/info releases today:
- Westpac/Melbourne Institute Leading Index for Sept. +0.7%(vs. +0.5% previously)
- Japanese Adjusted Merch. Trade -Y624.3B (Prior was -Y959.1B, revised from -Y980.3B)
- New Zealand Credit Card Spending down 0.9% YoY (vs. +1.5% prior)
- Conference Board LEI for China, October +1.5% (vs. +0.3% prior)
