Dollar extends the rebound against commodity currencies today and the strength is spreading further to against Swissy and Euro. Aussie and Loonie were both pressured throughout the day, following liquidation in commodity long positions. Gold is set to have it's biggest weekly drop in 25 years, dropping by 12% from it's record high of over $1000/oz. Oil, also fell below $100/bl. Meanwhile, the Euro and Swissy also retreats further against the greenback as traders take profits from the long positions, following weaker than expected services PMI reading in Mar.
Data from US saw initial jobless climbed 22k to 378k, matching Post-Katrina high. Philadelphia Fed survey improved more than expected from -24 to -17.4 in Mar. Leading indicators dropped -0.3% in Feb meeting consensus. Canadian Leading indicator dropped -0.3%, worse than expectation of 0.1%. Released earlier , Swiss combined PPI rose 0.2% mom, 3.6% yoy in Feb. Swiss trade surplus widened to 1.06b.
The biggest surprise today was UK retail sales which grew 1.0% in Feb, much better than expectation of -0.2% fall and even stronger than prior month's 0.8% growth. YoY rate just slowed slightly from 5.6% to 5.5% versus consensus of 3.7%. Sterling is relatively steady today, supported by rebound in EUR/GBP and EUR/CHF crosses.
