The pair closed in NY Wednesday at $1.6007 after rate had seen an aggressive spike rally to $1.6068, following the strong dollar sell off prompted by the release of weaker than forecast retail sales, PPI and Empire Mfg data. These releases saw a sharp fall in UST yields, as well as a sharp sell off in US equities, which provided the catalyst for dollar sales. Rate the dropped back to $1.5875 before edging higher through the NY afternoon and into the close. Markets were described as thin which provided for the volatile conditions. Cable opened Asia at session highs of $1.6022 and drifted off in early trade to $1.5978 before edging back to $1.6004. Rate struggled to make headway above $1.6000 and eventually drifted lower again, extending the Asian base to $1.5975ahead of Europe. The corrective recovery in euro-dollar Wednesday outpaced cable which in turn saw the cross spike through stg0.8000 and on to stg0.8065 before it closed at stg0.8011. Rate touched a low in Asia at stg0.8007 before recovering to stg0.80275. Asian markets have been fairly subdued, most see traders there awaiting Europe reaction to Wednesday’s swings. A light UK calendar with focus on US weekly jobless claims, IP/Cap.Ut. and Phila Fed.
