Archive for December, 2009

U.S. Dollar Trading (USD) held steady against most pairs but gained against the Yen as the Japanese government stepped up it rhetoric and the market covers significant short positions on the USD/JPY. US stocks closed on a weak note and this helped the USD step on to the front foot…. more from... »

Mixed US data helped keep risk markets within recent ranges. A drop in US jobless claims was countered by a disappointing ISM services survey. That dragged the S&P500 back after a strong open, to be unchanged as we write. Bank of America stock rallied by 2.8% on plans to repay… more from... »

Overall, the Thursday trading session proved to be rather dull in the currency market, with the major currencies unable to post any important gains. This happened even as the report calendar was loaded with top-tier news reports, something that usually sparks a lot of volatility in the currency market. Still,… more from... »

The dollar traded mixed ahead of Friday’s US employment report. Initial jobless claims posted their fifth consecutive week of decline and remained below the 500K mark for a second week, signaling improving labor market conditions, but the ISM US non-manufacturing index showed US service industries unexpectedly contracted in November after… more from... »

The NY session witnessed one heck of a rollercoaster ride, with risk much better bid early only to come off hard into the close. Better US economic data helped initially as jobless claims printed 457K for the week while the market was expecting a much higher 480K read. That would… more from... »

The rate in the last 12-month longer-term refinancing operation, to be allotted on 16 December 2009, will be fixed at the average minimum bid rate of the MROs over the life of this operation. Trichet said that this was not intended as a signal of rate hikes and should rather… more from... »

The Governing Council (GC) of the European Central Bank is beginning to remove the support it has been providing to credit markets, but still sees no need for interest rate hikes for now. While the ECB staff upgraded their forecasts for GDP growth in 2010, the inflation forecasts were left… more from... »

The Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke testified before the Senate Panel regarding his re-nomination for a second term as a chairman for the Federal Reserve of the United States. The testimony revealed future plans settled by Bernanke to support economical growth further and reduce unemployment, in addition to address the… more from... »

The ISM non-manufacturing index disappointed expectations for a rise to 51.5 in November, instead falling to 48.7 from October’s 50.6 reading. Business activity registered a steep decline to 49.6 from 55.2 in October. New orders held up better, dipping to 55.1 from 55.6 in the prior month. Although the employment… more from... »

It has been a very choppy day’s trading in the FX markets as equity indices across Europe and the US have had a mixed day, while investors failed to generate directional momentum from the day’s economic data or ECB meeting. The higher open from European equities was therefore the predominant… more from... »