Forex headlines for May 3, 2013
- April non-farm payrolls 165K vs 145K exp
- Revisions add 114K jobs to two prior NFP reports
- Unemployment rate 7.5% vs 7.6% exp
- ISM non-manufacturing index 53.1 vs 54.0 expected
- S&P 500 breaks 1600 and hits record high
- March US factory orders -4.0% vs -2.6% exp
- Nowotny talks about negative rates, then changes his mind
- PIMCO’s Bill Gross selling some European debt
- GBP/JPY hits highest level since October 2009
- On the week, S&P 500 up 2.0%
- AUD leads, JPY lags
It was an ole’ fashioned risk rally with the yen crashing after non-farm payrolls. USD/JPY instantly rallied 100 pips to 99.05 and then spent the rest of the day chopping in a 30 pip range.
The reaction was less cohesive in EUR and cable. The initial move was a surge into dollars and both pairs plummeted but bids ahead of the 55-day moving average at 1.3030 in EUR/USD caught the fall and the euro turned around to 1.3150. Later, it drifted back to 1.3115.
Cable fell as low as 1.5480 on the kneejerk then ripped to 1.5600.
The commodity currencies climbed higher but it was a slower move.
Gold was surprisingly quiet, stuck in a tight range and nearly unchanged on the day at $1469.
