North American Summary and Highlights 12 Dec
Overview - The USD was firmer in Europe, but corrected in North America as the EUR advanced and equities slipped.
North American session
Equities came under pressure led by tech which saw some early losses for the AUD and CAD, but losses were eventually marginal, USD/CAD meeting resistance near 1.38 and AUD/USD correcting a move below .6650. Equity weakness weighed on USD/JPY, but losses were marginal, to 155.80 from 155.90. The EUR was generally firm, though EUR/USD gains from a 1.1720 low found resistance at 1.1750. EUR/GBP advanced to .8785 from .8765 and EUR/CHF to .9345 from .9325.
Outgoing FOMC voters Schmid and Goolsbee explained their hawkish recent dissents but incoming voter Paulson was quite dovish, concerned more about employment than inflation.
European morning session
The USD was generally firmer through the European morning session, with the JPY continuing to underperform. USD/JPY rose 20 pips to 155.90, while EUR/USD dropped 15 pips to 1.1725. The CAD was the best performer, with USD/CAD dropping 15 pips to 1.3760. Scandis underperformed, with EUR/SEK and EUR/NOK both rising around 4 figures, helped by a rise in seasonally adjusted Swedish unemployment to 9.0% in November.
EUR/GBP popped slightly higher early in the session after UK GDP data saw an unexpected decline of 0.1% in October, due to weakness in services and construction. But the impact on GBP was modest, with EUR/GBP rising just a few pips to 0.8765 after peaking below 0.8775.