- Philly Fed -12.9 vs -8.0 exp
- Philly Fed employment hit lowest in nearly 3 years
- Initial jobless claims 386K vs 365K exp
- Existing home sales 4.37m vs 4.62m exp
- Leading indicators -0.3% vs -0.1% exp
- South Africa announces surprise rate cut
- IMF says UK should re-think austerity
- German lower house approves Spanish bailout, as expected
- US sells 10-year TIPS at record low yield
- Fitch affirms Italy at A-, negative outlook
- WTI crude +$2.59 to $92.46, highest since May
- Gold +$8 to $1581
- S&P 500 hits two-month high
- AUD leads, EUR lags
US trading began with a sharp sell off in EUR/USD as stops tripped below 1.2250 down to 1.2229. Reported bids at 1.2200/15 weren’t even challenged as the USD began slumping after the Philly Fed pointed to QE3. EUR/USD later climbed all the way back to near-unchanged levels on the day at 1.2281.
USD/JPY spiked lower to 78.43 after the jobless claims data but quickly bounced back. The numbers were skewed by autoparts shutdowns. Last 78.59, which is where the pair started US trading.
Cable was the winner of US trading as EUR/GBP shorts weighed. The pair rallied above 1.5700 early in trading and then rallied to 1.5738 as Europe closed.
Other EUR/cross trades also benefited from technical buying as they hit fresh records. None more than AUD.