- US weekly jobless claims fall 53,000 to 610,000 though continuing claims surpass 6 mln.
- US housing starts fall 10.8% in March
- Philly Fed survey rebounds to -24.4 in April from -35.0 in March
- US stress test results and any resulting capital needs to be announced May 4
- China to keep buying US Treasuries: Nikkei
- ECB’s Wellink: Economic slide leveling off.
- IMF’s Strauss-Kahn: No reason for dollar to lose reserve currency status, economic freefall slowing
A mostly range-bound session in the majors with some unwinding of reflation trades in the wake of the Chinese GDP data is how we sum up the US session.
EUR/USD slipped to 1.3125 where it found support again after bottoming there in London. A headline on the Nikkei website that China would continue to buy US Treasuries was the catalyst for the decline. AUD and CAD slipped on that news as well. The market had been swept up in the notion that China was buying commodities as reserve assets and the Treasury news helped cool those ideas.
AUD/USD fell back to key support at 0.7140 but bounced strongly from there as US shares rallied late in the afternoon, rising 1.5%. Strong Google earnings after the bell may keep futures underpinned overnight.
CAD strengthened briefly to 1.1985 but fell back with spiking to 1.2145/50 on the Chinese Treasury report.
Cable gave back some gains but held above important 1.4820 support. Stops are building below that level.
USD/JPY was a non factor, range trading all day, but eyeing 99.60 stops late in the day.
