- Empire Fed +10 vs -2 exp
- Wal-Mart warns of ‘disastrous’ Feb sales
- US Jan industrial production -0.1% vs +0.2% exp
- U Mich consumer sentiment 76.3 vs 74.8 exp
- Canadian Dec manufacturing sales -3.1% vs -0.8% exp
- G20 statement makes no mention of commitment not to target FX
- Draghi: Market conditions have improved since summer
- Bernanke: US economy is recovering
- Pianalto says Fed could taper asset purchases by year end
- Cyprus needs just over 16 billion euros – German press
- Gold hits 5-month low below $1600
- S&P 500 down 2 points to 1519, down 0.1% on week
- GBP leads, NZD lags
The euro bottomed at the outset of US trading at 1.3305. Upbeat comments from Draghi helped a recovery to 1.3365.
USD/JPY surged higher on the Empire Fed, eventually jumping more than a cent. Bernanke talking about the recovery and Pianalto about tapering asset purchases added to the momentum. Technicals may have played a part as support from last Friday at 92.00/20 launched the move.
The commodity currencies lagged throughout US trading. The soft manufacturing number hurt CAD, sending USD/CAD to 1.0080 which once again proved to be solid resistance. Last 1.0067.
Gold hit stops on the drop below $1625. It fell as low as $1597 but has rebounded to $1608.
Have a great weekend and remember that Monday is a holiday in the US.
