Euro rallies in New York

The euro rallied against the dollar and yen on Tuesday after data showed the Spanish economy contracted slightly less than expected in the third quarter and Italy's borrowing costs fell at a sale of five- and 10-year debt. The yen rose against the dollar after monetary easing steps from the Bank of Japan disappointed investors who had positioned for a more aggressive increase in asset purchases.
Trading moves were exacerbated earlier in the New York day by lighter-than-usual volume as US trading desks were only thinly staffed after one of the biggest storms ever to hit the United States battered the eastern seaboard, but volume did pick up as the session progressed. "Slightly better-than-expected Spanish GDP in the third quarter gave the euro a bit of a bounce," said Joseph Trevisani, chief market strategist at Worldwide Markets in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. "That was complemented by a reasonably successful Italian bond auction."
The euro was last up 0.4 percent at $1.2959, still close to the session peak of $1.2983. The euro was bid after data showed the Spanish economy contracted for a fifth straight quarter in the three months to September at a slightly slower rate than forecast. It was also helped by improved demand at an Italian debt auction. Some $4.17 billion in euros has changed hands globally so far on the last Tuesday of October, compared with $4.87 billion for the entire session on the last Tuesday of September, according to Reuters Dealing.
Gains for the euro looked likely to be capped by concerns about whether Greece can agree to a deal on more austerity, and uncertainty over when Spain might request financial aid. The BoJ increased its monetary stimulus for a second month running, this time by 11 trillion yen ($138.5 billion). The yen gained after this, with traders saying there had been speculation of a bigger move.
"Dollar/yen dove through the 79.50 level in the wake of the BoJ announcement on quantitative easing that disappointed the markets," said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management in New York. "Many traders were hoping that Japanese monetary officials would deliver a bigger boost." The dollar hit a one-week low of 79.25 yen, breaking below important chart support at the 200-day moving average. It was last down 0.2 percent on the day at 79.60 yen.
Friday's four-month peak of 80.36 was expected to act as resistance for the dollar. The euro also fell to a two-week low against the yen before reversing course to trade 0.2 percent higher at 103.15 yen mostly due to cross trading as the euro rallied against the dollar. Strategists said it was too early to tell what impact the destruction caused across the US eastern seaboard by the giant storm Sandy might have on currency markets.