ForexLive North American wrap: French downgrade rumor fizzles

Rumor France to be downgraded, later denied IBD/TIPP economic optimism 46.5 vs 47.3 exp Merkel: Worst part of European crisis is over-WSJ Japan to spend 5.2T yen on public works – Nikkei BOJ to mull easing again in January – RTRS sources BOJ and govt may set no time frame for inflation target – Nikkei Redbook retail sales up 2.1% in first week of January AEP on youth unemployment and Spanish housing S&P 500 down 0.3% to 1457 JPY leads, GBP lags The yen headlines caused some selling in USD/JPY down to 87.00. A second push broke below the psychological level and through recent lows in GBP/JPY and EUR/JPY. EUR/USD was relatively quiet, extending the downward momentum from Europe to 1.3057 and then stabilizing around 1.3080. The commodity bloc tailed off around the European close then rebounded, ending the day near the highs in AUD/USD and NZD/USD.