- Greece summons EU, ECB, IMF to Athens for meeting Monday to set three-year financial plan; precursor to aid request
- Initial weekly jobless claims surge to 484,000
- Empire State manufacturing index 31.9 in April from 22.9 in March
- ECB’s Stark: Next wave of financial crisis a sovereign debt crisis
- US TIC data shows $9 bln net inflow in February
- US industrial production rises 0.1%; Capacity use at 73.2%
- Philly Fed survey rises to 20.2 from 18.9
- NAHB index rises to 19 from 15
- ECB’s Nowotny: Greece has begun talks toward activating aid
- Greece to go ahead with USD-denominated bond offering; Morgan Stanley the lead underwriter.
- S&P 500 rises 0.1% a 1211.80
- Oil falls 0.35 to $85.50, Gold up modestly to $1161
EUR/USD closed most of its gap from early in the week, falling as low as 1.3520 in London before rebounding some late in that session. The bounce reached 1.3585 shortly after the late London fixing. Down we fell again, to the low 1.3530s before more range-bound trading in the afternoon. Greek bond spreads steady around 400 bp despite signs aid mechanism to be tapped.
USD/JPY slipped back below 93.00 during US trade but again found buyers ahead of 92.80. Bids are steady in the 92.70/90 area but stops are building at 92.50.
GBP/USD benefited from a fall in EUR/GBP. Prices rose back above 1.5500, reaching 1.5509 before stalling. We end the US session just below the 1.55 level. Stops are down at 1.5350.
Commodity currencies saw some modest profit-taking today. USD/CAD bounced after bears were unable to push prices below a 0.9950 barrier option. We rose to 1.0035 on short-covering in the US afternoon. AUD USD ended in the lower end of the session range, around 0.9335. Trade was dull in that pair today.
Friday could be dull for EUR/USD with prices meandering in a 1.35/1.37 range.
