- Bearish sentiment is being caused by ongoing Greek political uncertainty
- Spanish Govt to tell banks to raise extra capital: Reuters sources
- Japan FX reserves edge up helped by higher US Treasury prices
- UK retail sales disappoint, -3.3% YoY
- UK permanent job growth slows
- RBNZ financial stability report says system is working quite well
- IMF says SNB cap on strong CHF is appropriate for now, but should be removed if growth improves and deflation risks subside
- Regional stockmarkets -1.2% on average; Gold -1% to $1589/oz; Oil $96.50/bbl
There has been quite heavy turnover today at certain times, with risk-off sentiment again dominating. The AUD has been the biggest loser, falling across the board with US momentum funds and Japanese investment funds being named as the main sellers. AUD/USD opened near 1.0110 and traded quietly until Tokyo came in and started selling AUD/JPY. Bounces have been very shallow and sentiment is bearish ahead of Chinese data tomorrow and Friday. Ranges: 1.0053/1.0116
EUR/USD has also fallen but not as heavily, as very solid bids of EUR500million+ have been popping up on the interbank trading platforms at regular intervals; EUR/JPY selling has been the main factor in filling these bids (non-Sovereign I believe). The Reuters reports that Spanish banks will be required to raise more capital sent EUR/USD below 1.3000 in early trade and its been unable to regain it since. Ranges: 1.2964/1.3005
USD/JPY has been dominated again by flows in the crosses and dealers have been happy to buy any dips, with large option related bids reported just below the market. Ranges: 79.73/93
Cable 1.6126/58; EUR/GBP .8039/51