EUR/USD opened near its highs of the day in New York and attempted to overtake sell orders in the 1.3400/10 area but failed. We soon began a slow grind lower that ultimately saw most of the euros gains on the day wiped out. We slipped as low as 1.3294 late in the session and end around 1.3310 after Fitch affirmed the US’s AAA but lowered its outlook.

USD/JPY had a strong morning session in NY, breaking through resistance at 77.80 and rallying as far as 78.23 before stalling. 77.80 should now act as support on dips. Traders continue to keep one eye out for the BOJ and its proxies…

Cable rallied along with the euro early and fell back with it late. Very dovish comments by four members of the BOE’s monetary policy committee before the Treasury committee helped undermine the rally. We close at 1.55 after flirting with 1.5600 during the US morning (1.5586 the high…)

Commodity currencies rallied strongly on the big gains in equities overnight, on hopeful signs from US retail sales and faint hopes for some progress out of Europe. The rallies petered out during the US morning and AUD slipped a penny from 0.9975 highs to 0.9875 late in the US afternoon.