" Conditions in EURUSD were choppy through all three global sessions with a pronounced swing higher to 1.3375 starting in the London session, almost completely reversing course in a subsequent pull back to 1.3325. Range-bound activity in USDCHF was just as serious as spot made a gradual move to 1.2085 before shooting to 1.2155. Against the British pound, the dollar forced its way to 1.96 in the London session before the pair made a quick swing off of range resistance just below 1.9685. Finally, USDJPY has once again been weighted by risk aversion. The recently volatile pair plunged nearly 160 points from Asian session highs to 116.40."

"Though the dollar is still contained within broader ranges across many of the majors, volatility was stoked Wednesday through a number of events that have attracted traders from all asset classes. Through the overnight sessions, market participants were moving on rumors and preliminary news reports on the Iran/UK standoff. The action began just after the close of US markets on Tuesday when a rumor that Iran fired on a US navy ship found its way to trading desks. While the rumor was ardently denied by the US military, jumpy traders had already moved on it. In the low-liquidity conditions of electronic trading, crude quickly soared above $68 per barrel, though it pulled back just as quickly. Furthermore, the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the British prisoners did not completely dissipate when the rumors were doused. As time zones came and went, currency participants clearly went to work clearing risk from their books by unwinding carry positions. Both the Japanese yen and Swiss franc rallied in the crosses and against the dollar as a result. A tailored gauge of geopolitical uncertainty, crude held on to some of its short-lived gains from the overnight. By the morning hours in New York, the active contract was quoted at $64.50, up nearly 2.5 percent from Tuesday’s close."

"As US markets came online, traders found additional risk to keep them on their toes. The Commerce Department’s durable goods orders report was a mixed back, though took on a bearish bias when it was taken into the context of expectations. According to the data, total bookings for goods lasting three years or more rose 2.5 percent in February. Aside from the pick up, the print fell short of expectations while January’s multi-year record contraction was revised even lower. Looking to the less volatile calculation, that excludes the transport complex, orders actual missed expectations of a positive showing with a 0.1 percent drop. This is the fourth dip in the past five months. Contractions in machinery and metals components suggestions demand from firms is cooling as they look to burn off excess inventory and wait for the manufacturing sector to find its footing. On the other hand, the
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