Fed chairman Bernanke spoke, and it seemed to work as he had calming affect on the markets about situation on banks being nationalised. Oil closed up $42.50 ending the New York session at $42.50 per barrel. Stock markets, Nasdaq was down 16 points whilst the Dow Jones fell 80 points.
On the data front, Weekly Jobless Claims and also January Core Durable Goods Orders.
The Euro fell as new downgrades for Eastern European countries. On the data front, German GDP Q4 was confirmed at -2.1%. EUR/JPY remained strong but couldn’t break 125 Yen. EUR/USD traded with a low of 1.2692 before closing the day at 1.2720.
Data coming out German Unemployment for February.
The sterling weakened after Q4 GDP at -1.5% which gave rumors of rate cuts new rumours of banking bailouts. Representatives in the EU had concerns of the pounds weakness especially against the Euro, with Gordon Brown having said sterling weakness against Euro is a good thing for the UK.
The GBP/USD traded with a low of 1.4176 and a high of 1.4605 before closing the day at 1.4210 in the New York session.