Forex headlines for Oct 3, 2013:
- September US ISM non manufacturing PMI 54.4 vs 57.4 exp
- US initial jobless claims 308k vs 313k exp
- Boehner provides assurances on passing debt ceiling increase
- A dozen House Republicans who want to drop attempts at budget battle - BBG
- Some Senate Democrats are willing to repeal the tax on medical devices - WSJ
- Fed’s Williams says FOMC still on Bernanke’s June timeline
- Fed’s Fisher continues to rail against uncertainty
- US Treasury dept says US default would cause credit markets to freeze and dollar to plummet
- White House recalling FEMA workers to prepare for Tropical Storm Karen
- Shots fired near US Capitol building
- S&P 500 down 0.9% to 1678
- CHF leads, NZD and GBP lag
After a quiet day of trading in Europe, the market came into the day with an open mind. Early headlines from BBG talked about division among Republicans and that made it seem like a debt deal was getting closer. It sent EURUSD to the lows of the session at 1.3587. Cable also broke to a daily low.
The story didn’t seem to go anywhere and the stock market opened in a sour mood, partly because Obama said Wall Street should be more worried. The ISM numbers missed and that led to a drop in the dollar. EUR/USD hit a fresh 8-month high at 1.3645 and USD/JPY skidded below 97.00. At the worst point, the S&P 500 was down 24 points.
Sentiment turned around on the medical devices story and the Bohner debt ceiling story in the NYT. Those headlines hit a few minutes apart and risk trades rebound.
Later in the day the shooting hit but that only caused a blip in EUR/USD and USD/JPY.