Possible Debt Restructuring For Greece Spurs Risk Aversion - Greece's debt costs surged after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told a newspaper that Athens may need to restructure its debt if an audit in June questions the nation’s ability to make debt repayments. Of course this spurred speculation that other peripheral euro zone countries would also need to restructure their debts causing the Euro to move lower. European Central Bank Executive Board member Lorenzo Bin Smaghi warned that such a move would be a "catastrophe" and fellow ECB policymaker Juergen Stark also warned that Irish banks cannot rely on ECB emergency funding indefinitely. In the UK, the GBP bounced higher after a Nationwide Building Society report showed U.K. confidence rose in March from a record low as Brits grew more optimistic. In Asia, the risk aversion trade put a firm bid under the Yen while the SGD rallied to a record high after the Monetary Authority of Singapore said it will reorient the currency’s band upward. Meanwhile, China was in the news again after its foreign exchange reserves soared to a record of more than $3 trillion by end-March. Also, China's money supply growth blew past forecasts which is threatening to aggravate the nation's inflation woes so expect more hikes in bank reserve ratios. In the US, this morning's round of data flow, jobless claims unexpectedly increased and wholesale prices rose, caused the USD to give back some of its overnight gains. In Canada, the CAD was weaker in overnight trading due to peripheral European government debt woes and continued its downtrend after this morning's weaker-than-expected Canadian manufacturing data. Manufacturing sales fell in February, its biggest dip since August 2009, as auto sales pulled back after a January surge.
Here are the interbank mid-market rates at the time of posting:
EUR/USD 1.4429 USD/CHF 0.8932
GBP/USD 1.6330 USD/CAD 0.9647
AUD/USD 1.0511 EUR/CAD 1.3927
NZD/USD 0.7910 GBP/CAD 1.5757
USD/JPY 83.16 USD/MXN 11.8049
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