- Fed lowers growth and employment outlooks; raises inflation view
- QE 3 very unlikely as Bernanke says deflation threat has ended; inflation, employment stronger than before QE2
- US home prices fall 5.7% y/y in April: FHFA
- S&P analyst: Greek default would not floor European banking system
- Bill Gross: QE3 to be unveiled at Jackson Hole in August
- EU’sBarroso: No alternative to EU-IMF plan
- German, French banks in talk with governments on Greek rollover
- Greek opposition still opposed to bailout
- Eurozone consumer confidence -10 in June from -9.9 in May
- S&P cuts Spanish region of Valencia to A from A+
- Greece resists using state assets as collateral for bailout loans: MNI
- S&P 500 falls late after Bernanke downplays QE3 option
- US 10-year note yields rise 1 bp to 2.99%
- Gold closes rise $2.50 to $1548. Reaches $1557.75 intraday
EUR/USD rallied to 1.4442 during a dull US morning as Bill Gross tweeted his view that Bernanke will hint at QE3 later this summer at the annual Jackson Hole symposium. That got the markets hope up for a hint at today’s press conference. Epic fail. Bernanke gave chapter and verse as to why QE3 is not appropriate given present circumstances. EUR/USD fell to session lows of 1.4343 as we close for the day.
GBP fell sharply today as it was the BOE, the bank most in need of a rate hike, that tipped it is considering more QE…Cable fell as low as 1.6061.
CHF got a flurry from the gross comments with traders snapping it up across the board before it eased on late-afternoon dollar strength.
