New York Session
Published: February 3, 2009 5:11 PM

Risk taking was back in vogue in NY trading as earnings from the healthcare space and better than expected pending home sales put a bid under stocks. The S&P 500 rallied more than +1.5% as US pending home sales jumped 6.3% in November after a -3.7% pullback the prior month. Pending sales lead existing sales by about two months and this suggests at least some improvement in January sales.

With the number of vacant homes in the US reaching a record 19 million for 2008, however, any modest move higher in sales is likely to provide little relief to the inventory overhang. US Treasuries sold off in good size as well and the 2-year yield jumped 7bps to 0.96% while the 10-year rate was more than 16bps higher at 2.88%. Gold remained pretty resilient, closing down just -$5 near the $900/oz mark and somewhat defying the overall flight from safety.

Risk trades in FX land headed higher on the follow. EUR/USD added more than 180 pips into the 1.3030/40 zone on a good rally from 1.2950 in the latter part of the session. EUR/JPY was bid about 140 points towards 116.50/60 and this left USD/JPY a touch weaker near the 89.40/50 area. GBP/USD rocketed more than 200 pips towards 1.4450 as risk appetites drove cable higher. USD/CAD meanwhile slipped more than -180 pips as crude oil prices rose a little less than $1 but held on to $40/bbl support nicely.

Upcoming Economic Data Releases (Asia Session) prev est

2/3 22:30 GMT AU AiG Performance of Service Index JAN 39.3 - -

2/4 0:01 GMT UK Nationwide Consumer Confidence JAN 47 45

2/4 0:30 GMT AU Retail Sales Trend (MoM) DEC 0.10% 0.30%

2/4 0:30 GMT AU Retail Sales s.a. (MoM) DEC 0.40% 1.00%

2/4 0:30 GMT AU Building Approvals (MoM) DEC -12.80% 2.00%

2/4 0:30 GMT AU Building Approvals (YoY) DEC -34.70% -29.70%

2/4 2:00 GMT NZ ANZ Commodity Price JAN -7.40% - -