EN news@ac-markets.com news@ac-markets.com ACM Newsletter http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/daily-forex-news.aspx Copyright © 2007 Advanced Currency Markets SA. All rights reserved. Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:11:24 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/daily-forex-news.aspx 4b7bcd54-96c8-49a2-99f2-c765860ecff3 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-2-8.aspx Peter Rosenstreich "We expect and we are confident that the Greek government will take all the decisions that will permit it to reach that goal," Trichet said. A statement made earlier, but reiterated by EU members of the G7 this weekend. In addition, EU members spent time trying to reassure non-EU members that Greece’s (Portugal ’s, Spain etc) fiscal problems can be solved without the help of external bodies such... 97e0d7e8-162d-42bc-b3fe-dac37fb3d408 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-2-5.aspx Elizabeth Gregory The collapse in risk sentiment over the past 24 hours has been triggered by seemingly innocuous events, with most news agencies pointing to concerns of sovereign debt woes in Spain and Portugal adding to the well-publicized situation in Greece. Others have also highlighted yesterday’s disappointingly high US claims figures which have certainly knocked optimism for today’s non-farm payrolls. But... fc506461-6ac0-4032-a20f-59be03aaf928 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-2-4.aspx Peter Rosenstreich Risk appetite saw slight erosion in the Asian session, with the USD as the principal gainer. Equity markets across the region were weaker, with the Hang Seng down -1.66%. The heavy tone was not helped by New Zealand, which saw a jump in unemployment data from 6.5% to 7.3% (a 10yr high). Pre-data, markets had been aggressively pricing in RBNZ rate hikes as early as April, but these worrying... 2d3ec1c3-7ce9-439b-a18b-0d750d080c1a Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-2-3.aspx Peter Rosenstreich Just a day after the RBA mentioned China shift in policy as a rational for holding rates, Fitch Rating warned that banks in China faced the greatest “bubble risk” of any Asian country. This temporarily took the wind out of the risk-on tone, pushing the EURUSD down to 1.3946. However, markets were able to rally as Europe opened and traders prepared for an event and data filled day. Gold then broke... a5a9e43b-84a3-4f71-a707-09d73ec3b72d Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-2-2.aspx Peter Rosenstreich The RBA stunned the market by holding their cash rate steady at 3.75% and not hiking another 25bp, as was widely expected (roughly 80%). The AUD immediately collapsed, as traders anticipated eroding yield spread. The AUDUSD shed nearly one and a half big figures, trading from 0.8927 to 0.8780. However, the RBA’s accompanying statement clearly indicates that rates might go higher in the future.... fb554d35-3709-4b64-801a-bce364addf0d Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-2-1.aspx Peter Rosenstreich Negative risk sentiment is still clearly the driving theme in the FX markets. Last week, already skittish investors were hit with the “trifecta” of problems. Rising CDS spreads on sovereign debt, worries that China would take a less accommodative stance in monetary policy and political risk in the US (take your pick: Bernanke’s confirmation, banking regulations and/or Obama’s whopper Budget).... 4f4f608a-db2b-43b1-bfcd-4db50fe6bacb Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-29.aspx Peter Rosenstreich Despite the temporary boost in risk appetite, markets are still overly risk averse. Sovereign concerns clearly took center stage, weighting on the EUR yesterday, as an article in the Financial Times said that EC officials were planning a rescue plan for Greece . An unnamed source stated that "we may act when policies in one country are putting at risk economic and monetary stability". As pressure... 017e1e31-5f23-4073-a512-03a3c1e0bc5b Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-28.aspx Elizabeth Gregory Yesterday’s FOMC statement provided an unexpected split vote that suggests the Fed may be starting to lean away from continued loose monetary policy. Although the committee members kept interest rates unchanged and preserved most of the wording from the last statement, Fed member Hoenig dissented in the vote; as he believed “that economic and financial conditions had changed sufficiently that... da41955c-40a0-4105-a405-2ae163bc69fe Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-27.aspx Peter Rosenstreich The front page of the FT reads “Athens invites Beijing to buy Bonds”. It seems that Greece is trying to woo China into buying eur25bn worth of sovereign debt. While the article makes the deal seem positive to China , we are doubtful that China would happily pick up more risky paper with just the thin promise of “we won’t default”. Especially considering they are already sitting on a massive pile... 60b1f6f5-c33c-4bbd-a80e-757f222f4676 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-26.aspx Elizabeth Gregory Risk appetite has suffered further setbacks in the past day on fears of China is clamping down on lending, Barack Obama’s proposals to freeze US spending, and this morning’s downgrade of Japan’s outlook to ‘negative’ by S&P ratings agency. Despite the latter development, JPY is higher on the day as the arguments for broader risk aversion are overpowering the logic that Japan’s economy may... a99c6383-5a7d-4141-96f0-6f31e9a2756b Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-25.aspx Elizabeth Gregory Market Awaits BoJ, FOMC and RBNZ Decisions   Currency markets are consolidating at the beginning of this week after the turmoil of Obama’s banking overhaul proposals. A sparse data calendar on Friday combined with very few releases today means that most traders are likely to remain on the sidelines until further details of the Volcker rules are announced, or until market attention is drawn... f47ec26d-dd76-4cdf-9fd7-7d09db0d4a9d Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-22.aspx Elizabeth Gregory After President Obama’s dramatic speech yesterday on banking reforms, the tremors are still reverberating through financial markets. US indices took the brunt of the impact yesterday afternoon, and in the FX space, the JPY is still elevated against the USD and other crosses. However with a high degree of uncertainty still surrounding specific details; whether these sweeping changes can be passed,... 469f026c-91d6-46b8-afb3-754e56041620 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-21.aspx Elizabeth Gregory EURUSD finds itself under relentless selling pressure this week (touching a low of 1.4033) as Greek bond yields continue to rise and the cost of insuring against sovereign default in Greece creeps further upwards. The yield on Greek Sovereign 2yr bond has surged to 4.96% having been around 1.70% at the end of September, and the cost of CDS (insurance premium to protect against default) has risen... b2e7528d-0716-455d-b898-6539dafe6920 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-20.aspx Elizabeth Gregory Dollar Benefits As Risk Sentiment Languishes   The USD has continued to climb higher this week (the DXY touching highs of 78.02 so far this morning) with the ongoing erosion of risk appetite. A combination of poor economic data, dovish central bank rhetoric, and sovereign debt concerns have all played a part in sustaining the USD rally; and in addition, Q4 corporate earnings have not, thus... c6273423-3c20-4a51-b9bc-ab8862806af4 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-19.aspx Elizabeth Gregory This morning’s UK CPI was sharply higher than forecasts; coming in at a monstrous 0.6% MoM, 2.9% YoY in December, up from last month’s 0.3% MoM, 1.9% YoY rise. Today’s reading comes within a fraction of hitting the 3% threshold where BoE Governor King would be obliged to write a letter to the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer to explain the massive overshoot above the 2% target. GBPUSD has responded... 337a3161-7c63-46b6-9cb5-bcabb9c59d10 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-18.aspx Elizabeth Gregory The start of another week brings with it a fresh spate of sovereign debt concerns, today sparked by an article in the UK’s Telegraph that speculates the ECB is ruminating over the potential legal framework for the possibility of a country leaving the European monetary union. Whether the cited document (entitled: “Withdrawal and expulsion from the EU and EMU: some reflections”) has come about at... 9f3f0d39-c64c-496a-9cac-91d84a646cdb Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-15.aspx Peter Rosenstreich Risk appetite continues to be shaky and markets remain nervous. Asian regional indexes are slightly higher, with European equity markets following. Early participants were abuzz with rumors that German Chancellor Merkel would resign, perhaps driven by a Time piece suggesting she was losing support of coalition partners. However, the rumors were quickly dismissed, with little linger... dedec9ea-acd8-42c2-a69b-2db521ba8917 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-14.aspx Elizabeth Gregory The increase in Australian Employment released overnight more than trebled analysts’ estimates (+35.2k vs. 10.0k expected), sending the Unemployment Rate tumbling to 5.5% against consensus forecasts for it to rise to 5.8%. Australia has unquestionably been one of the first out of the blocks in the recovery amongst the G10, a fact that saw AUDUSD appreciate over 27% in 2009 on the expectation of... 1caf2ac5-b899-43d7-9af1-666c7dbee095 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:16:42 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-13.aspx Peter Rosenstreich The USD was mildly weaker against the majors, with the commodity currency seeing the largest appreciation after yesterday’s fall. While not a complete surprise, China’s 50bp hike in banks reserve ratio put risk on a back footing, highlighting how sensitive market participants are to any tightening. The move is expected to freeze roughly CNY270bn at Chinese banks. Given China’s massive demand for... 70d0dae2-9990-4623-9899-68c154fbe2f8 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.ac-markets.com/forex-news/forex-2010-1-12.aspx Elizabeth Gregory This morning’s Swedish CPI came in at a firmer than expected 0.2% MoM, 0.9% YoY, against consensus estimates for 0.1% MoM, 0.7% YoY. Indeed today’s reading brings the annualized headline CPI surging back into positive territory for the first time since April 2009 and seems to confirm suspicions that the Riksbank’s current inflation forecast is incorrect. The steady increase in CPI from Sweden...