posted by Admin on Feb 18
The US Dollar moved higher as traders fled the Euro and Australian Dollar once again, and there was some bullish indications from the release of the Fed minutes. Following a good run, some of the sparkle has run out of the Euro, with investors appearing to prefer the relative safety of the US Dollar. The push higher was furthered as minutes showed that Federal Reserve policy makers had discussed asset selling.
Market News
US housing starts figures released yesterday rallied to a 6 month high
The Bank of Japan held rates at 0.1%, as expected last night, by a unanimous vote. Their economy continues to pick up.
The IMF announced that they planned to sell 191 tonnes of gold on the open market as opposed to central banks.
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1330 US PPI
posted by Admin on Feb 17
The Euro registered its biggest single day move to the upside since July 2009 as concerns about euro zone debt subsided. The rebound for the Euro signals that traders think the sell-off may have been overdone, with the number of Euro short positions being reduced as risk appetite softens.
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The UK’s CPI came in as forecast at 3.5%, well above the government’s target of 3.5%
Unemployment levels in the UK rose by 23,500 in January to its highest level since April 1997
The Bank of England minutes were released showing that members voted 9-0 to pause the asset purchasing scheme
The minutes from the last FOMC meeting are scheduled to be released at 1900 GMT
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1330 US HOUSING STARTS AND PERMITS
posted by Admin on Feb 16
Whilst many traders remain cautious about the Euro, it has moved higher in trade on expectations that European finance ministers will not say anything new on the debt issues that surround the Greek economy. Yesterday the European Chief Jean Claude Juncker said that Greece had until March 16th to propose new measures to trim their deficits.
Market News
With the US markets shut for Presidents Day yesterday, the US Dollar inched ever so slightly higher in relatively thin trade
European finance ministers picked Portugal’s Victor Constancio to be the new deputy president of the ECB at the end of May
The latest data from the CFTC shows record short positions against the Euro
Minutes released from the latest RBA meeting showed that they decided to leave interest rates on hold in order to assess the impact of past rate hikes
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0930 UK CPI
posted by Admin on Feb 11
The Euro rose once again as we edged closer to the EU summit. Leaders are scheduled to meet today, and traders will be looking for details on how the other European nations plan to help debt-stricken Greece. The Euro is now at three-week highs against Sterling, breaking through the 200 day moving average.
Market News
Civil Servants went on a 24 hour strike in Greece yesterday to show their frustration with government spending cuts
Australian jobs data rose once again for the fifth straight month, with unemployment now at 11 month lows
Ben Bernanke stated yesterday that he may raise the borrowing rate to banks as the initial step in his exit plan from the current monetary policy
Mervyn King left the door open for the Bank of England to re-start their quantative easing programme in the future.
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DELAYED DUE TO HEAVY SNOWFALL IN US
posted by Admin on Feb 9
The Euro’s dramatic slump slowed down last night, with some commentators fearing that the currency may be oversold, however data suggests that we could be in for a rocky period. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange showed that net short positions against the Euro rose from 39,500 contracts to 43,700. The Greek Prime Minister has denounced speculators.
Market News
Jean Claude Trichet is reportedly leaving a Sydney meeting of central bankers early to attend the European Council meeting on Thursday
Greek civil servants threatened to strike on Monday in response to the government cutbacks
Global stock markets have pulled back in reaction to the Greek fiscal crisis, with the Dow now trading below the 10,000 level for the first time since November 4th
Goldman Sachs have cut their view on Greek and Italian banks to Sell
In the UK, traders await the Bank of England’s Inflation report, scheduled for release on Wednesday.
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1500 US Wholesale Inventories
posted by Admin on Feb 8
Attention remains focused on the weakness of the Euro, with traders remaining skeptical about G7’s reassurances over Greek sovereign debt. The Euro is trading near 9 month lows against the US Dollar, with fears that the issues may not just be contained within Greece, but spread in to other weaker economies such as Spain and Portugal. The cost for insuring against default by Greece, Spain or Portugal has hit record highs.
Market News
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner stated that it was his belief that the US government “will never” lose its triple A credit rating.
In his interview with ABC News, Geithner also stated that he felt the threat of a double dip recession was less than before, albeit the recovery would be slow
UBS have lifted their 2010 GDP predictions for Switzerland to 2%
Japanese bank lending posted its biggest annual fall in more than 4 years as demand remained weak
posted by Admin on Feb 8
This was one of the most volatile weeks the markets have had in quite some time. The markets began the week attempting to bounce from near term oversold conditions and rallying to the prior weeks highs. However, they gave way to steep declines on Thursday and most of Friday on a large increase in volume. By mid-day Friday, it seemed like the indexes would finish off the week at their lows but in the afternoon the bulls mounted a strong assault on the bears, firmly reversing the intraday trend. All the indexes finished with slight gains on huge volume, while trading well off their intraday lows and forming a candle pattern commonly referred to as a hammer.
posted by Admin on Feb 5
A huge night in the foreign exchange markets saw a flight to safety, with traders continuing to flee the Euro amid concerns that the sovereign debt issues in Greece may spread further afield, to weaker economies such as Spain and Portugal. Sterling fell to its lowest levels against the US dollar in 4 months, and the Euro hit an eight month low.
Market News
Barclays Capital economists warned that the Greek issue could spread to create a “Lehman-style tsunami spreading across much of the EU”
Yesterdays initial jobless claims in the US came in a lot lower than expected, with claims rising by 8,000 to 480,000, way above analysts’ expectations, who forecast a fall of 10,000
Both the UK and the ECB left rates unchanged at 0.5% and 1% respectively
Following 11 months of support, the Bank of England announced that they would be pausing their quantative easing programme
Please note that the non-farm payroll figures are scheduled for release at 1330 this afternoon
posted by Admin on Feb 4
The euro continues to trade at circa 1.385 against the dollar as comments emanating from the IMF states that they would be prepared to help Greece if necessary, but they are confident that the Greeks will be able to deal with their financial crisis without intervention. The Greek government has put together a three-year plan to repair their economy.
Market News
Both the UK and Eurozone had rates left unchanged at 0.5% and 1% respectively
The Bank of England have halted their quantative easing programme after 11 months of asset buying
The Dollar Index rallied against a basket of other major currencies
Please note that we are scheduled to see non-farm payroll figures released tomorrow ahead of the opening bell
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1330 Initial Claims
posted by Admin on Jan 27
The US Dollar rallied against most of its major rivals ahead of today’s Interest rate decision. It is widely believed that rates will remain unchanged, but focus will be on the accompanying statement that may give clues to the economic outlook and future rate policy. The Dollar Index rose to trade at its best levels since September 2009.
Market News
US consumer confidence jumped in January
UK Q4 GDP came in at 0.1%, lower than analysts expectations (0.4%)
US Interest Rates are widely expected to remain unchanged, but traders will be looking to the statement to eye the potential winding down of the asset purchase programme
Ben Bernanke’s term as FED Chairman ends on Sunday, as the Senate continue to debate whether or not he should be granted a second term
Reports suggest that the Chinese Central Bank have made fresh moves to curb lending. China’s central bank asked several lenders to raise their reserve ratios according to reports, in an attempt to cool down the nation’s loan growth.
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1915 US INTEREST RATE DECISION
