The price action in NY trading was nothing short of confounding as risk appetite flip flopped and left the USD practically unchanged against the majors overall. US equities slipped about -0.8% in broad terms as failure of the S&P to take out the 850 level in earnest left stocks feeling heavy. US Treasuries were also sold, however, and the 10-year yield jumped 4bps to 2.92% while the 2-year added a beep to 0.97%. Gold rallied modestly into the $905/oz area and the recommendation from a prominent US bank that gold is heading to $1,000/oz should keep the precious metal bid near-term. Crude oil slipped more than $2 from the near $42/bbl highs as weekly inventories swelled a whopping 7.2 million on the heels of a massive 6.2 million build the prior week.
EUR/USD was little changed overall and sitting near 1.2830/40 after an early session push into the 1.2930 area quickly fizzled. The 1.28 mark looks like critical support here and has thus far contained the downside assault. A break could see a move back to the 1.27 nearby lows rather quickly. The yen crosses were a bit higher as US yields drove JPY lower. USD/JPY added about 40 pips into 89.40/50 while EUR/JPY was up about 50 points towards the 114.70/80 zone. USD/CAD was about -85 pips lower despite oil coming off the boil and the pair was sitting near 1.2320/30 near the close. The next critical level to the downside here looks like 1.2250 while above 1.2350 should see decent strength on the follow.
Upcoming Economic Data Releases (Asia Session) prev est
- 2/5 1:30 GMT JN BOJ Board Member Atsushi Mizuno Speaks
