- US Senate majority leader Reid says “looks like” US headed over the fiscal cliff
- US House to meet Sunday on fiscal cliff
- Initial jobless claims 350K vs 360K exp
- Dec US consumer confidence 65.1 compared to 70.0 exp
- US Nov new home sales 377K vs 378K exp
- Winter storm hits US Northeast
- S&P 500 down 0.1% to 1418
- EUR leads, JPY lags
It was the regular set of euro gains and yen losses until Harry Reid’s comments spoiled the party. The soft consumer confidence numbers also sharpened the focus on the struggles of the US consumer.
The euro touched 1.3284 but then sank to 1.3211 immediately after Red’s remarks. A second downward thrust hit 1.3203 but bids ahead of 1.32 held up. Sentiment later recovered and EUR/USD has rebounded to 1.3250.
AUD has gotten a lift late in the session with AUD/JPY breaking above 89.30.
Cable withstood the initial downdraft following Reid’s comment but a break below 1.6150 set off a round of selling to 1.6066 but later bounced to 1.6120.
