North America Summary and Highlights 10 Jan

North American session
The USD gained strongly against the JPY through the Noth American session, but fell back against the EUR. US short term yields actually fell modestly, so the gains against the JPY look to have been driven by the aftermath of the weak Japanese data overnight and by cross flows. The EUR was supported by slightly higher front end yields.  EUR/JPY hit a high of 159.80 – its highest for more than a month, while CHF/JPY traded up to 171.12 – a new all time high. 
There was little news of note. BoE governor Bailey’s speech played down the pressures on UK mortgage holders, but there was little GBP impact, although EUR strength did send EUR/GBP up above 0.86. 
European morning session
The USD was generally lower against the riskier currencies through the European morning, but little changed against the JPY and CHF. EUR/USD rise 20 pips to 1.0950, and there were similar gains in the other risky currencies. 
The main news was from Scandinavia. Norwegian CPI came in marginally below expectations at 5.5% in the core, but there was little reaction in the NOK, with EUR/NOK steady at 11.31 after a dip mid-session. Swedish data was mixed. GDP numbers or November rose 0.2%, which looks strong following the 1.0% gain in October. But production, retail sales and confidence data were all on the soft side. EUR/SEK was also little changed near 11.20. 
Other data showed French industrial production rising more than expected in November at 0.5%, and Italian retail sales also beating expectations at 0.4% m/m.