The buck surged today with the Dollar Index reaching highs that have not been seen since last January. The dollar extended gains on the back of risk aversion as concerns in Europe mounted following an unexpected drop in retail sales in Germany, worries about bank capital needs and a French 10-year bond auction which saw higher yields and declining demand from the previous sale. Yields spreads of other European nations over German bunds widened significantly amid the elevated nervousness and European stocks fell for a second day. EUR crosses made fresh lows with EUR/JPY trading as low as nearly 98.50, EUR/GBP trading towards the 0.8250 level and EUR/AUD under pressure below the 1.25 figure.
In other Europe news, Greek officials said that the country will complete the outline for a debt swap deal ahead of Troika talks on Jan. 16. Greece and the Troika will discuss a new aid deal when the group meets in Athens at that time.
Positive U.S. employment figures also benefitted the greenback with the ADP employment change jumping to 325K from the prior month’s 204K (cons. 178K) and weekly initial jobless claims continued to fall with the latest print at 372K from the prior 387K. The strong data comes ahead of tomorrow’s BLS report and suggests the potential for a positive number.
USD was strongest against European currencies with the biggest gains against the SEK, NOK and EUR with smaller gains against the commodity currencies. U.S. stock markets finished in mixed with the S&P 500 finishing to the upside for the third consecutive session (up about +0.29%) while the DJIA closed marginally lower by around -0.02%. UST yields rose with the 10-year yields edging higher by around 2bps to nearly 2.00% at time of writing. In the precious metal space, gold and silver are currently trading higher by about +0.65% and +0.38% respectively. U.S. crude oil inventories unexpectedly rose by 2.2M barrels (cons. -1.0M) which saw oil decline by about -1.42% currently.
There is no significant data due out of the Asia/Pacific session, however Swiss Dec. CPI, EZ Nov. retail sales, unemployment rate, Dec. consumer confidence and German factory orders are due out early tomorrow ahead of the US employment report.
In other Europe news, Greek officials said that the country will complete the outline for a debt swap deal ahead of Troika talks on Jan. 16. Greece and the Troika will discuss a new aid deal when the group meets in Athens at that time.
Positive U.S. employment figures also benefitted the greenback with the ADP employment change jumping to 325K from the prior month’s 204K (cons. 178K) and weekly initial jobless claims continued to fall with the latest print at 372K from the prior 387K. The strong data comes ahead of tomorrow’s BLS report and suggests the potential for a positive number.
USD was strongest against European currencies with the biggest gains against the SEK, NOK and EUR with smaller gains against the commodity currencies. U.S. stock markets finished in mixed with the S&P 500 finishing to the upside for the third consecutive session (up about +0.29%) while the DJIA closed marginally lower by around -0.02%. UST yields rose with the 10-year yields edging higher by around 2bps to nearly 2.00% at time of writing. In the precious metal space, gold and silver are currently trading higher by about +0.65% and +0.38% respectively. U.S. crude oil inventories unexpectedly rose by 2.2M barrels (cons. -1.0M) which saw oil decline by about -1.42% currently.
There is no significant data due out of the Asia/Pacific session, however Swiss Dec. CPI, EZ Nov. retail sales, unemployment rate, Dec. consumer confidence and German factory orders are due out early tomorrow ahead of the US employment report.