Forex news headlines for May 7, 2013:
- ECB ready to act again if necessary – Asmussen
- US JOLTs job openings miss estimates slightly
- Japan revises Q4 economic data lower
- May US IBD economic optimism 45.1 from 46.2 prior
- Portugal sells 3-year bonds
- Three explosions in Tehran
- Chinese gold consumption jumps
- US consumer credit rises $8B in March vs $16B expected
- Obama says no indications North Korea prepared to move in a peaceful direction
- S&P 500 hits record, up 0.5% to 1626
- On the day, JPY leads, AUD lags
A momentary chill sent the euro and pound quickly lower in US trading. A number of reasons were rolled out, including explosions in Iran, hostages in Syria, Apple shares reversing and a potential Bank of America lawsuit but none of the theories held water. In any case, EUR/USD dropped to 1.3074 from 1.3110. Scattered reports of serious demand in the 1.3070/50 zone were prominent.
Cable fell and then fell further in a second leg of selling. Heavy selling from a clearer appeared to be behind the second swoon which touched as low as 1.5447. Demand in the 1.5420/30 zone wasn’t tested and the pair crawled back to 1.5480.
As risk trades slipped early in trading, stocks fell into negative territory but the commodity currencies were resilient and climbed afterward. AUD/USD closes out the day near 1.0180 compared to 1.0155 early in New York.
USD/CAD touched a two-month low at 1.0037.
Gold fell as low as $1441 but rebounded to $1451, Ryan had some techs earlier.
