- IMF: Ready to help Greece if asked
- Germany’s Schaeble: Would be “misplaced solidarity” to bail out Greece
- Chicago PMI rises to 60 in December; market expected 55.0
- KC Fed manufacturing index falls to 10 in December from 17 in November
- Times Square evacuated by bomb scare
- US sells $32 bln 7-year notes at 3.345%; bid to cover ratio 2.72
- Canada suspends Parliament until budget is unveiled in early March
When does a market stop functioning like a market? The eve of New Years eve, apparently.
Forex markets were extremely thin and extremely volatile today. Cable was the poster child for volatility, rallying 2.5 cents, more than offsetting yesterday’s decline. Yesterday we were left with an outside day key reversal to the downside on the daily chart. Today, there was an outside day to the topside. Good luck working out the technical significance of that one.
EUR/USD sold of for much of the US morning, slipping to support at 1.4275 moments before the 16:00 GMT fixing, only to rebound into the fixing. Price shot higher shortly afternoon, reaching 1.4361 before stalling on first reports of New York’s Times Square (site of the city’s famed New Years celebration) being shut down by the discovery of a suspicious vehicle. It was reopened an hour or so later, without incident.
USD/JPY added to recent gains after overcoming resistance at 92.30, reaching 92.77 close to the 16:00 gmt fixing. Fears of a JAL bankruptcy helped spur the buying as did firm USD-supportive interest rate differentials.
Tomorrow’s 16:00 GMT fixing could be quite the fireworks show as month, quarter and year-end coincide.
