Forex markets remained unchanged overnight as markets digested volatile price action from the last 48 hours. The Euro saw fresh yearly highs after touching $1.3839 versus the USD in late trade yesterday and remains firm against a number of its counterparts. The US Dollar however remains very much bearish against the majors however technical indicators may signal a possible reversal in trend as speculators look to take profit from the key psychological levels currently being tested. Broader price action overnight seems corrective more than anything else and we have seen …
The euro, pound and yen are among major currencies that have taken advantage of a weaker dollar again this week. The dollar, already sluggish in lieu of ongoing unemployment concerns, slid further following the Fed’s announcement last week that it plans to buy US Treasuries to effectively infuse cash into the economy.
Price action yesterday was dominated by negative comments from the Bank of England’s Posen, who gave a rather gloomy outlook on the UK economy. He couldn’t have been more dovish, citing the view that the BoE could buy private assets if purchases of gilts did not have the required effect. With inflation running at elevated levels this could not be worse for the currency. Whilst GBP and Usd are in a similar boat, EUR is not, and so EUR/GBP is the vehicle to express this bearish GBP …
Sterling saw seven week highs versus the dollar yesterday at $1.5867 but has failed to hold this level given the general pick up in the USD overnight. This morning sees the release of the CBI distributive trades survey for September, which could show that plans for fiscal tightening are impacting in terms of UK High Street activity. Final Q2 GDP numbers are also due and are expected to confirm the previous growth estimate of 1.2% over the quarter. Markets, however, are more concerned with the outlook for the current quarter, …
Central Bank leaders elected to leave interest rates alone following their monetary policy meeting on Tuesday (September 21). The move extended weakness in the dollar and helped push the euro and pound higher.
Price activity in the Forex market yesterday and overnight was rather volatile with Sterling falling to a seven week low of Stg 0.8402 versus the Euro following the release of UK Retails sales data for August. Figures released failed to meet analysts expectations with a figure of -0.5% against a projected +0.3% which saw a strong reaction in the FX markets as many buyers were caught offside with a net increase of “Short” positions following the release. The data released was a strong signal that UK consumers may be reining …