US Equities Closed As NY Braces For Hurricane Sandy

UK mortgage approvals and net consumer credit higher; Spanish retail sales sharply lower; Italian auction. Markets await German CPI; US income and spending rose from prev month. PLEASE NOTE that until the next week, the time difference between London and NY narrowed to 4 hours from the usual 5 hours. US equity markets closed. USDJPY shorts in latest Premium Insights nearing the final target. EURUSD, EURJPY, cable, gold, silver and EURGBP in progress. More below.

The greenback is mixed in the ongoing session. It is stronger against EUR, GBP and CHF, weaker against JPY and unchanged against the rest of the majors. European equities are losing nearly 1% and the relative strength winner is JPY while GBP lags.

GBP is losing across the board despite UK mortgage approvals that rose 50K in September after rising 48K the prior month. Furthermore, net consumer credit rose to GBP 1.2 bln from previous -0.1 bln which is the highest level since 2008. GBPUSD trades near session lows around 1.6060 while EURGBP recovered to 0.8035 after falling to 0.8022.

EURUSD declined to 1.2886 after Spanish retail sales dropped more than analysts anticipated. On annual basis sales fell 10.9% in September after falling only 2.1% in August. A VAT hike is blamed for the decline. EURUSD trades around 1.2910.

Italy reached a full take up as it sold EUR 8 bln of 6 month BOT. The average yield was lower at 1.347% from 1.5% while cover rose to 1.52 from 1.39.

US core PCE that is expected to inch higher to 1.7% in September from 1.6% y/y. Sep Personal income rose 0.4% as expected from 0.1% and personal spending rose 0.8% vs expected 0.6% from previous 0.5%. Coe PCE price index edged up 1.7% from 1.6%.

PLEASE NOTE that until the next week, the time difference between London and NY narrowed to 4 hours from the usual 5 hours.

NYSE and Nasdaq will be closed today as the hurricane Sandy approaches New York. Confirmations whether these markets will be closed on Tuesday as well are pending. SIFMA is also recommending that US fixed income markets close at noon.

USDJPY shorts in latest Premium Insights nearing the final target. EURUSD, EURJPY, cable, gold, silver and EURGBP in progress, while AUDUSD hit all targets and CADJPY stopped out. We added 4 charts on EURUSD and gold to dissect the technical complexities for gold (daily and weekly stochastics and MA confluence) as well as euros intermediate trendline and its shifting behavior relative disappointing IFO & PMIs. For direct access to these Premium trades, please click here: http://www.ashraflaidi.com/products/sub01/access/?a=691 Non subscribers, can click on here to join: http://www.ashraflaidi.com/products/sub01/

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