- IMF hoping to raise $600B in new funds; US not interested in contributing
- Greece fin min: haircut deal by the weekend likely
- US nears deal to give 1m homeowners principal writedown
- Monti forecasts 5% surplus in 2013
- Greece threatens bond holdouts with punitive laws
- NAHB housing market index hits highest since June 2007
- Industrial production +0.4% vs +0.5% exp, underlying numbers better
- US PPI -0.1% m/m vs +0.1% exp
- BOC’s Carney: CDN housing overvalued in some cases, hikes inflation forecasts
- Carney: European recession to last four quarters
- ECB’s Weidmann: German growth to be flatish in Q1, pickup later
- ECB’s
- US rejects US-Canadian Keystone pipeline
- European stocks mixed; DAX +0.3%, Spain -1.4%
- S&P500 +1.1% to 1307
- CHF and EUR were the top performers, USD and JPY trailed
The euro climbed throughout the session but it was a choppy grind. EUR/USD spent almost the entire session above 1.28 but continually ran into offers at 1.2860.
The IMF headlines sparked the first run higher and then news that Greece is nearing a deal triggered the second leg.
The underlying story was of funds covering medium-term EUR shorts on a number of crosses. Large orders in GBP, AUD and CAD prompted spikes at varying times.
Trading in EUR/CHF was adventurous. A fat finger triggered a 50 pip jump to 1.2130 and fears of intervention. When confirmation came of the errant bid, it plunged to new lows at 1.2070.
