- Greek prime minister says does not need bailout, vows major reforms
- US retail sales double expectations, rise 1.3%, ex-autos up 1.2%
- US import prices rise 1.7% in November, fueled by oil
- Trichet- Reducing imbalances most important challenge: Reuters
- University of Michigan consumer sentiment rebounds to 73.4 in early December
- US business inventories rise 0.2% in October; first rise in 14 months
- Ukraine asks for emergency IMF loan of $2 bln
- Dutch government reassess issuing government bonds in dollars
- IMM specs cover dollar shorts: CFTC
- Gold falls to $1110, closes at $1114; Oil falls 0.88 to $69.65; S&P 500 up 0.4% at 1106
- US 2-year note yield rises 4 bp to 0.81 bp, off highs of 0.84% highs
EUR/USD extended its slide today in New York as upbeat US data revived fears of an earlier-than-expected Fed hike. The combination of strong retail sales, a rise in business inventories for the first time in over a year and yesterday’s decline in the trade deficit has economists rapidly increasing their Q4 GDP predictions. Some pushed growth estimates as high as 5%. Most are around 3.5%.
EUR/USD broke below and looks set to close below both the 100-day moving average at 1.4636 and the November low at 1.4625.
Heavy sales of EUR/JPY were a major contributor to the EUR/USD swoon. It felt as though one large order helped push the cross from 131.60 to 129.90 lows . USD/JPY rallied during the US morning on the back of rising US interest rates before tumbling near midday as EUR/JPY slumped. USD/JPY’s New York range was 89.78 to 89.00.
EUR/GBP fell with EUR/JPY helping give cable a bid throughout the US afternoon. It dipped as low as 1.6195 at midday after the strong US data but edged up in the afternoon, closing around 1.6250.
As I covered a short while ago, Commodity currencies held up very well despite weakness in gold and oil.
Have a great weekend all!
