The US Dollar continued to hover near lows in Asia and a positive GDP number in Australia pushed the Aussie to fresh nine month highs....With yesterday's US pending home sales data showing a positive move not seen in over seven years, investors felt optimistic about the housing market which constitutes a big piece of the economic pie, and sold safe haven dollars on the data. EUR/USD peaked at 1.4337 in late NY trading and lost some ground as news of a higher number of job losses than expected leaked ahead of tomorrow's ADP Employer Services report.
EUR/USD skidded to a low of 1.4272, but turned around and looked to recapture earlier highs as London's day began. The Yen found support on that news as well, with the Yen hitting 95.38 against the Dollar before dropping back to 95.80 levels. EUR/JPY followed the lead as well, dipping to 136.25 before getting back to 137.00 by the end of the day.
The AUD/USD surged a solid 40 pips as GDP came up positive, thus proving that Australia managed to avoid recession in the first quarter. The moves that followed were swift, with the Aussie Dollar jumping from 0.8180 to over 0.8260 for the session, pulling AUD/NZD up with it from 1.2470 to just over 1.2620. AUD/JPY came along for the ride as well jumping to 79.00 after registering a 78.04 low earlier in the day. All in all, markets are still tentative ahead of some major data on the horizon, including tomorrow's US ISM Non-manufacturing PMI, ADP Employment change, and a Fed Chairman Bernanke speaking engagement in front of the Budget Committee.
Upcoming Economic Data Releases (London Session) prior expected
| 6/3/2009 | 7:50 | FR | PMI Services | MAY F | 47.6 | 47.6 |
| 6/3/2009 | 7:55 | GE | PMI Services | MAY F | 46 | 46 |
| 6/3/2009 | 8:00 | EC | PMI Services | MAY F | 44.7 | 44.7 |
| 6/3/2009 | 8:00 | EC | PMI Composite | MAY F | 43.9 | 43.9 |
| 6/3/2009 | 8:30 | UK | PMI Services | MAY | 48.7 | 49.5 |
| 6/3/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-Zone GDP s.a. (QoQ) | 1Q P | -2.50% | -2.50% |
| 6/3/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-Zone GDP s.a. (YoY) | 1Q P | -4.60% | -4.60% |
| 6/3/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-Zone Household Cons (QoQ) | 1Q P | -0.30% | -0.30% |
| 6/3/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-Zone Gross Fix Cap (QoQ) | 1Q P | -4.00% | -4.60% |
| 6/3/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-Zone Govt Expend (QoQ) | 1Q P | 0.40% | 0.30% |
| 6/3/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-Zone PPI (MoM) | APR | -0.70% | -0.80% |
| 6/3/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-Zone PPI (YoY) | APR | -3.10% | -4.50% |
| 6/3/2009 | 9:30 | UK | BRC May Shop Price Index | 3-Jun |
