- Ukraine asks Russia to pay higher transit fees for crude oil pipelines; wants to be paid in euros, not dollars. Russia warns EU supplies could be disrupted
- Dallas Fed manufacturing index rises to 3.8 in December from 0.3 in November
- Chicago Fed Midwest manufacturing index rises to 84.2 in November from 83.2 in October
- Fed proposes new program as part of exit strategy: Term deposit facility
- Al Qaeda in Yemen claims responsibility for weekend bombing attempt, calls for attacks on Western embassies
- Obama: US to place air marshals on all flights into and out of US; condemns Iranian repression of protesters
- IMM specs net long dollars- CFTC
- US auctions $44 bln 2-year notes at 1.08%. Bid to cover 2.91
- Oil rises $0.66 to $78.71; Gold slips from $1113 highs to close at $1107
- S&P 500 rises 0.1%; 10-yrear note yield rises to 3.84%, up 5 bp from Thursday
No lack of news over the Christmas weekend, but it didn’t translate to much in the way of speculative market interest today. EUR/US opened the US session at its highs, around 1.4410/15 with the market focused on Chinese growth and unwillingness to adjust their undervalued currency. Offsetting the Chinese news was a continued spike in US interest rates which helped slow the dollar decline.
EUR/USD dipped back to 1.4383 late in the session with risk aversion picking up late in the session after Al Qaeda claimed credit for the failed Christmas day attack.
USD/JPY traded quietly but was underpinned by firm US yields. It ends at 91.60.
Cable was slightly better bid during the US session with modest US corporate demand noted. It reached 1.6015 in thin trade and ends at 1.6005.
