- Spanish PM Ranjoy: No plan to raise VAT; no bad bank for Spanish banking assets
- EU’s Rehn: Crisis is not behind us; Labor reform crucial in Italy and Spain; repeats call for euro bonds
- No ECB rate cut expected Thursday; wait-and-see approach- US hedge fund advisory firm
- US wholesale inventories rise 0.1% in November, sales up 0.6%
- SF Fed’s Williams: Strong case for more bond purchases
- ECB’s Nowotny: Expects zero growth in euro zone this year; risk of mild recession
- EU blocks Deutsche Borse purchase of NYSE Euronext
- Fed earns $78.9 bln on its gigantic balance sheet
- Dow Jones: EU official says Greece will probably need more money than thought in October; restructuring could be forced, if necessary
- S&P 500 rises 0.9% to 1282, highest since July; Milan rises 3%
- US 10 year note up 1 bp to 1.96%; Italy -5 bp to 7.14%
- Gold edges above 200 day moving average intraday but closes below, at $1632, up $20; WTI up $0.90 to $102.20
EUR/USD opened the session in heavy demand, rising to 1.2819 straight away but the market ran into what traders described as a wall of offers all the way from 1.2810 to the highs with plenty more seen stretched up to 1.2830.
Pullbacks were fairly shallow as the market reverted to a more traditional risk-on attitude. Stocks and commodities were up on the day while concerns over an immediate downgrade for France were tempered by Fitch’s comments that a ratings cut won’t come this year. Italy? Well that’s another story…
