Forex news for January 12, 2015:
- ECB’s Makuch says wouldn’t prejudge when ECB would announce QE
- Makuch says ECB ready for sovereign QE if measures applied so far not sufficient
- ECB’s Noyer says QE needs clear limits based on current debt levels
- ECB’s Nowotny: Government bond purchases one option for ECB purchases
- Fed’s Lockhart prefer a later liftoff date if data mixed
- SNB’s Danthine: EUR/CHF floor will remain cornerstone
- Fed’s Lacker: Central bank should drop reference to being ‘patient’ if hike warranted
- Fed’s Williams says June rate rise ‘reasonable’
- Bank of Canada Q4 2014 business survey shows firms are looking for better growth in 2015
- Germany heads south in latest OECD economic leading indicator
- Lorenzo Bini-Smaghi has some Greek debt to sell you
- December 2014 US employment trends 128.43 vs 127.83 prior
- Europe hasn’t taken the needed steps toward recovery says Bernanke
- US Centcom Twitter and YouTube accounts ‘hacked by Islamic State’
- Gold up $12 to $1234
- US 10-year yields down 4bps to 1.91%
- WTI crude oil falls +5% as low as $45.62
- JPY leads, CAD lags
You couldn’t tell much about the day from the close, where the US dollar wasn’t largely changed outside of the commodity currencies.
The theme was the US undoing a round of US dollar strength from earlier in the day. The best levels for the dollar were just as the US was arriving and they gradually slid as the day wore on. EUR/USD was at 1.1785 in early trading but quickly climbed a half cent and chopped sideways from there.
Cable bounced off 1.15 and climbed all the way to 1.5180, nearly flat on the day.
The USD/JPY intraday chart looked like a speedbump as it climbed to 119.25 and then fell back to 118.30. The 188.00 level is growing in importance after a few failed challenges and it will be a key marker in the day ahead.
The losers on the day were the commodity bloc, especially CAD after another plunge in oil. USD/CAD was a steady riser and gained more than a cent on the day to 1.1937.
Copper fell to 5 year low and that helped put the squeeze on the Australian dollar
