The NY session was an absolute rollercoaster ride with early session risk aversion trades eventually coming off as we headed into the close. US stocks ended the day up modestly after being down nearly -3%. News that a major US bank could get yet another bailout coupled with the fact that the Dow held 8,000 and the S&P 820 support drove the gains. Risk trades in FX also came back in the latter half of the session.
The ECB press conference was the early highlight and Trichet's initially hawkish tone on inflation led EUR/USD into a session high by 1.3230/40. The pair eventually headed lower into 1.3040 as risk aversion gripped the markets. The lower stocks = lower EUR correlation returned to the fore. EUR/USD eventually closed near the NY open by 1.3110/20 on the late day rally in equities. Yen crosses saw a similar pattern with USD/JPY closing about 50 pips higher into 89.80/90 and EUR/JPY jumping more than 75 points towards the 117.80/90 zone.
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- 1/16/2009 2:00 GMT NZ Non Resident Bond Holdings DEC 74.20% -
