- Chicago PMI 62.2 vs 63.0 exp
- U Mich final March consumer sentiment 76.2 vs 74.5 exp
- US personal spending +0.8% vs +0.6% exp
- US personal income +0.2% vs +0.8% exp
- PCE core 1.9% y/y, as expected
- Canada Jan GDP +0.1%, as expected
- Fed’s Lacker: No need for QE3
- Spain to cut ministerial budgets by 17%
- Spain deficit target of 5.3% of GDP this year
- EUR/CHF touches lowest since Sept
- Schaeuble says firewall firepower at 800 billion euros
- Lagarde blesses firewall
- ECB’s Asmussen: ECB may explore bank resolution fund
- S&P 500 gains 0.4% to 1408
- CHF leads, JPY lags
EUR/USD was fairly rangebound. An early run to 1.3367 was wiped out in short order and risk aversion and stops combind for a slide to a low of 1.3309. It was choppy but essentially flat at 1.3339.
USD/JPY ran higher in NY for the third day in a row. A pop below 82 in Europe ran some stops but macro players piled in with Japanese year end now finished sparked a rally to 82.85. Stops above 82.50 and 1.10 in EUR/JPY got things moving in the afternoon.
The stubborn cable bid evaporated early in NY after touching a 4-month high of 1.6037. Some profit-taking knocked GBP/USD down to 1.5965 before closing out very near to 1.60.
AUD was on the defensive most of the day and closes at a session low at 1.0350.
EUR/CHF touched 1.2035, perhaps making for a sleepless weekend at the SNB.
