The month-end mayhem continued into the NY session and the buck managed to recover some of its overnight losses. US equities went on a rollercoaster ride as better economic data was offset by the news of the Chrysler bankruptcy and some poor earnings reports. Economic reports improved at the margin with jobless claims falling to 631K from 645K while the Chicago PMI jumped to 40.1 from 31.4 – the highest read since September. This helped stocks rally to about +1.7% on the day. The news that the Chrysler bankruptcy is now official, as senior debt holders look for a better deal, weighed on sentiment into the latter part of the session and equities eventually closed flat.
The US dollar managed to recoup month-end driven losses. EUR/USD dropped more than -60 points into 1.3230 but the pair should continue to find some buying interest just below 1.3200 here. The yen crosses were mixed with USD/JPY pushing up 45 pips to 98.60/70 and EUR/JPY just marginally higher by the 130.50/60 zone. Commodity currencies were under pressure as oil prices fell modestly. USD/CAD rose 40 pips into 1.1920/30 while AUD/USD shed -60 points towards 0.7250/60. The price action should be painful now over the next few sessions, as a holiday in Europe and upcoming holidays in Japan make for extremely thin marts.
Upcoming Economic Data Releases (Asia Session) prior expected
- 4/30 23:30 GMT AU AiG Performance of Mfg Index APR 33.4 - -
- 4/30 23:30 GMT JN Jobless Rate MAR 4.40% 4.50%
- 4/30 23:30 GMT JN Household Spending (YoY) MAR -3.50% -2.70%
- 4/30 23:30 GMT JN Natl CPI YoY MAR -0.10% -0.30%
- 4/30 23:30 GMT JN Natl CPI Ex Food, Energy YoY MAR -0.10% -0.20%
- 5/1 1:30 GMT JN Labor Cash Earnings YoY MAR -2.70% -2.80%
