The USD remained under pressure following yesterday's surprise Fed announcement to purchase US Treasuries and significantly expand Fed asset purchase programs. The NY morning saw further USD weakness, with EUR/USD gaining to nearly 1.3740 and USD/JPY falling to a low near 93.50, but the afternoon saw the USD bounce back. EUR/USD closed well off the highs at 1.3665 and USD/JPY recovered to finish out near 94.60. Commodities continued to rally, partly on USD weakness and partly on more positive expectations for a global economic recovery. Stock markets, however, did not share in the enthusiasm, with the S&P 500 shedding about -1.3% and the NASDAQ down about -0.5%, suggesting investors remains cautious after recent gains.
In a scheduled speech, SNB Board Member Thomas Jordan indicated that the SNB would continue to intervene to prevent the CHF from strengthening, but was not intent on driving it down to give Switzerland an advantage over other countries.
US data today revealed a mixed picture for the US outlook, with weekly jobless claims rising less than forecast (646K vs. exp. 655K), but with continuing claims edging higher still (5.47 mio vs. exp. 5.32 mio). The headline Philadelphia Fed Index surprised by improving to -35.0 from -41.3 (-39.0 exp.), but the sub-indexes revealed key indicators (new orders, employment) continued to decline.
Upcoming data releases:
- 3/19/2009 21:45 NZ Visitor Arrivals FEB -3.00% - -
- 3/20/2009 2:00 NZ Credit Card Spending (YoY) FEB -2.20% - -
- 3/20/2009 2:00 NZ Credit Card Spending for February 20-Mar
