Highlights

Concerns over the widening fallout from the US sub-prime mortgage debacle have propelled global stock markets and high-yielding currencies to go lower and sought shelter in government bonds. The US Dow Industrials dropped through the 13,100 figure only to close at 13,240 ahead of the weekend. The Federal Reserve provided $38 billion in reserves in three separate moves to curb current credit crunch concerns that seem bent on not disappearing any time soon

Aside from the Canadian dollar, both the New Zealand and Australian dollars continued to remain under pressure throughout the session. The AUD and NZD both fell below its support levels of 0.8600 and the 0.7600. However, helping the Canadian dollar remain afloat was a report on employment in the New York morning. Although the net change in employment was far less than expected at 11.3K, the employment rate dropped to lowest in 33 years. Incidentally, the survey results give some indications that the labor market continues to remain tight, bolstering speculation of a rate hike in the commodity.