ForexLive North American wrap: Dollar slides into the weekend

Europe considering firewall options US new home sales 313K vs 325K exp Obama nominates Jim Yong Kim to lead World Bank Iranian oil exports are expected down by 300K barrels per day in March Rumors on Iran and North Korea spook oil Moody's analyst says Canada's AAA-rating could survive housing drop, severe slowdown in China Italian Cabinet approves labor market overhaul Greece extends foreign-law bond swap Fed's Bullard says Fed should stay on sidelines Fed's Lockhart sees economy gaining traction IMF sees Greek funding gap in 2015 S&P 500 gains 0.3% to 1397 EUR/USD started the session at 1.3241 after a strong bid came in Europe just before the US open. The pair ran up to 1.3294 but offers up to 1.33 held the line and the pair ranged down to 1.3220 before settling near 1.3269. USD/JPY pinched through 82.00 by one pip but it was a headfake as anticipated stops didn't materialize and the pair bolted back higher, above 82.50. A similar effort saw AUD/USD touch a session low of 1.0372 at 2 p.m. ET but no follow through led to a reversal up to 1.0460 for most of the afternoon until a late break to 1.0480. Oil popped to $108 from $105 on war worries but quickly fell back to $106.80 with most players choosing not to believe the vague rumors, which were later denied.