- Dec. durable goods orders +3.0% vs +2.0% exp, Nov. revised higher
- Core orders +2.9% vs +1.0% exp
- Initial jobless claims 370K vs 377K exp
- Dec. new home sales -2.2% vs +1.9% exp
- Dec. leading indicators +0.4% vs +0.7% exp
- Merkel waiting on legal opinion about shared fiscal rules
- Germany working on alternatives to transaction tax
- Spain expects to pass budget law tomorrow
- Regling: EFSF able to lever, if necessary
- RTRS: ECB split on how to deal with its Greek debt
- Senate votes down effort to block debt ceiling hike
- Eurozone peripheral yields fall to recent lows except…
- Portuguese 10yr yields hit fresh record highs
- S&P 500 falls 0.6% to 1319
- JPY is top performer, EUR and USD lag.
EUR/USD marched higher in Europe after a strong Italian auction. The momentum faded as NY traders got to their desks but upbeat US durable goods data sparked a run to fresh highs at 1.3170. That was surpassed shortly afterward on a squeeze to 1.3184 at option expiry. The area was littered with sell orders and the euro quickly fell.
Soft US housing data weighed on risk and comments from Juncker saying the ECB won’t take losses on Greek debt erased the daily gains, sending EUR/USD back to 1.3100. Bids seen at $1.3080/70.
USD/JPY continues its revival as a tradable pair. Selling came at the tail end of European trading, knocking the pair to 77.30 from 77.64. Long-term players continue to scale into USD/JPY as the pair recovered toward 77.50.
Otherwise, it was a slow, slog downward in risk trades. USD/CAD fell below parity to 0.9982 for the first time since Nov 1 on buoyant commodity demand but the pair rebounded to 1.0020.
