- NAHB housing market index at highest since May 2006
- Oct existing home sales 4.79m vs 4.75m exp
- Greece may get early aid – DJ
- Greece balks at Troika-mandated job cuts
- Spain says needs less than EUR 40 bln from EU bank bailout
- Germany lowers expectations for a Greek deal tomorrow
- Reuters: Greece to get EUR 44 bln on December 5 after tentative go-ahead at tomorrow’s summit
- Not so fast on Greek deal tomorrow: Finnish FinMin
- Fiscal cliff talk
- Japanese election stoking radical mon pol
- S&P 500 gains 2% to 1387
- NZD leads, USD lags
Risk trades rallied, led by the commodity currencies, but the excitement was limited to the early parts of US trading.
Sentiment was positive and further boosted by the US housing market data. The euro was boosted by buy stops after breaking above 1.2787. EURUSD broke through the 200-day moving average at 1.2810 but and will close very near that mark.
USDJPY was fueled by further talk of an expanding BOJ mandate. The latest leg hit stops above 81.37 but stalled out well ahead of the overnight highs above 81.50.
AUDUSD was a steady climber, closing out the day near 1.04, which has been a magnet this month.