• FAZ reports Spain near bankruptcy, to appeal for EU aid; European officials deny
  • Greece downgraded four notches to BA1 by Moody’s
  • Sarkozy, Merkel agree on need for bank levy, transaction tax; Bailout fund available for Spain or any other country that needs it
  • China to buy “several billion” in Greek assets
  • EU to agree need for bank levy at EU summit on Thursday: Reuters
  • S&P 500 fails to overcome 200-day moving average once again, ends session a 1090 after reaching 1106 intraday
  • US yields end well below session highs; 10-year notes close at 3.26% versus 3.31% at midday; risk appetite fades

EUR/USD rallied to the low 1.2270s straight out of the gate this morning, before running into sellers from central banks. Price consolidated below that level until the 15:00 GMT fixing when the offers were absorbed and prices rallied as high as 1.2298 before stalling.

The inability of the S&P to take out its 200-day moving average (its third failure in recent weeks) saw profits book on long EUR positions during the US afternoon. Also contributing to a slide in EUR/USD was talk of a bearish report by a US think tank on the fate of Spain. EUR/USD pulled back as low as 1.2216. Real money buying was quite evident on weakness, suggesting the asset managers are underweight EUR and they may be trying to get back to a neutral posture on their currency weightings.

USD/JPY was supported for much of the session by EUR/JPY buying and firm US bond yileds but rising risk aversion in the afternoon and a turn to the downside in stocks helped rag bond yileds lower. USD/JPY fell in sync.

We end the session around 91.50. 91.41/91.96 was the New York range. EUR/JPY traded 111.78/112.87 and ends near the lows at 111.88.

Cable held up well today amid growing talk of UK rate hikes later this year to cool stubborn inflation pressures.

AUD/USD jumped to 0.8665 as Europe drew to a close. It was all down hill from there in the New York afternoon as stocks turned south and Greece and Spain dominated the headlines. Traders were quick to book profits, knocking AUD back to 0.885 late in the session.