- Spanish 10-year yields surge above 6%
- Spanish leaders propose regional austerity
- US Fed wholesale inventories +0.9% vs +0.5% exp, Jan revised higher
- IBD/TIPP econ optimism 49.3 vs 48.5 exp
- JOLTs job openings virtually equal to Jan
- US Redbook sales +4.1% y/y
- Fed’s Fisher: Still against QE3
- Fed’s Kocherlakota: No need for further accommodation
- Fed’s Tarullo: Stress tests will be changed
- US warns N. Korea on missile/satellite launch
- Italian stocks fall 5%, banking shares hammered
- ECB’s Nowotny sees no need for further LTRO, can’t rule it out
- Canada fin min expects ‘moderate growth’
- Santorum quits Republican race
- US 2-year yields fall below 2%
- Copper hits 12-week low
- S&P 500 closes down 1.7% to 1358
The euro was surprisingly resilient amidst a wave of selling in stocks and periphery bonds. A stubborn bid, said to be driven by a US bank drove the pair to 1.3137 in the early going but the European high of 1.3145 capped gains before the sellers took over, sending it to 1.3054.
EUR/JPY told a clearer story, falling below the 200-day moving average and declining 1.5 cents to 105.55.
The yen was broadly stronger, underpinned by the fall in US yields to one-month lows. USD/JPY opened US trading at 81.20 and it was all down from there, to 80.65.
The commodity currencies were hard hit with USD/CAD hitting 1.0043 and AUD/USD down to 1.0248.
