US Market Summary on March27th, 2008

EUR hit 7-session high vs USD, extending a day-long rally and tipped off by strong eurozone data that contrasted sharply with U.S. fundamentals. "The euro's been bid pretty much all day," says Adam Boyton, strategist at Deutsche Bank in NY; "it's that combination of strength in European data, weakness in U.S. data, and the interest rate differential continues to widen in favor of the euro."

In U.S., bad news continued with Feb new-home sales at lowest point in 13 years, orders for durable goods down 1.7% last month. Dallas Fed's Fisher said monetary policy may not be best tool to repair market liquidity right now, as inflation pressures remain worrisome; he's voting member of FOMC this year.

Late in New York, EUR/USD at 1.5844 vs 1.5613 late Tuesday, USD/JPY at 99.15 vs 100.16, GBP/USD at 2.0081 vs 2.0012, EUR/JPY 157.08 vs 156.40. Two-year Treasurys surged, energized by surprisingly strong auction demand. Tumbling stocks also sent investors back to safe haven of low-risk government debt; 2-year yield down 10.4 bps at 1.66%, 10-year down 1.1 bps at 3.48%.

Stocks fell on heightened concerns over potential write-downs in upcoming quarters; JPMorgan down 4.2%, Deutsche Bank down 1.1%, Washington Mutual down 9.5%. Dow down 0.9%, Nasdaq down 0.7%, Philly semicons down 1.4%. April Comex gold rose $14.20 to $949.20/oz as declining USD continued to spur metal's recovery from last week's sell-off. Nymex May crude settled $4.68 higher at $105.90/bbl, also on USD weakness.(RSH)