Daily Afternoon Report 09/11/2012

The U.S. dollar was broadly higher against most of its major counterparts on Friday, concerns over the handling of Greece's financial woes continued to weigh, while worries over U.S. fiscal policy also persisted.

The euro came under pressure after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Thursday said next week may still be too early to make a decision on granting further aid to Athens, despite a successful vote on new austerity measures. But later on EUR/USD bounced ahead of U.S. data.

Official data showed that industrial production in France dropped 2.7% in September, more than the expected 1% decline, after a 1.9% rise the previous month, while, in Italy, industrial production tumbled 1.5% in September, compared with expectations for a 1.4% drop, after a 1.7% increase the previous month.

The dollar was also higher against the pound, since earlier in the day, the official data showed that the U.K. trade deficit narrowed more-than-expected in September, hitting GBP8.4 billion from a deficit of GBP10 billion the previous month.

The Aussie came under pressure after the Reserve Bank of Australia reduced its 2013 growth outlook to 2.75%, earlier in the day.

On the other hand, the export-linked currencies found some support after data showed that industrial production in China rose by 9.6% last month, more than the expected 9.4% increase and following a 9.2% rise in September.

Concluding, the overall market sentiment continues to be weighed by concerns over the U.S. fiscal cliff, automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1 unless lawmakers can reach an agreement, which could threaten U.S. and global growth.

In recent U.S. news, consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in more than five years in November as consumers felt more optimistic about employment prospects and the outlook for the overall economy, a survey released on Friday showed. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 84.9, up from 82.6 the month before. It was above the median forecast of 83 among economists polled by Reuters.

Daily Morning Report 09/11/2012 | Forex Trading Analysis

The Australian Dollar is trying a comeback after China's CPI print came at 1.7%, when a 1.9% was the consensus, and 5.5% was the number for Oct last year. Local share markets and SP500 futures are correspondingly having some relief rally after heavy losses in last 2 days.

The Bank of England decided not to increase the asset purchase target in November, although the spending on the stimulus measure is expected to be finished by the end of the month. The asset purchase target was kept at 375 billion Pounds; the interest rate was also kept at 0.50%.

The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in September to its smallest gap since December 2010, as exports rose to a record high. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that the trade deficit shrank by 5.1 percent to $41.5 billion in September from $43.8 billion in August.

French Finance Minister Moscovici said he expects France to maintain a 0.8% growth target for 2013. He also said that it’s crucial to reach an accord on the Greek debt deal. Greek PM Samaras just accomplished to pass the austerity measure in the Greek parliament; the austerity measure is meant to win the approval for the next round of bailout funds. 

Daily Afternoon Report 08/11/2012

The U.S. dollar remained broadly higher against the other major currencies on Thursday, as concerns over U.S. fiscal policy supported dollar demand, while investors awaited the European Central Bank’s post-policy meeting press conference later in the day.

Overall market sentiment continued to be weighed by concerns over the U.S. fiscal cliff, automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1 unless lawmakers can reach an agreement, which could threaten U.S. and global growth, while the applications for jobless benefits fell by 8,000 to 355,000 in the week ended Nov. 3, as the Labour Department announced today.

The euro remained under pressure after a successful Spanish bond auction on Thursday eased pressure on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to request a bailout before the end of this year.

Later on, the euro turned even lower against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, trading close to a two-month low after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said that economic activity in the euro area is expected to remain weak in the near future.

Speaking at a press conference following the ECB's November policy meeting, Draghi said that the bank expects the euro zone economy to remain weak "in the near term", but financial market confidence "has visibly improved on the back of our decisions as regards Outright Monetary Transactions," he added, referring to the bank's bond buying program unveiled in September.

Elsewhere, Sterling found support after the Bank of England said it was maintaining the benchmark interest rate at 0.50% and the size of its asset purchase program unchanged at GBP375 billion, following its policy-setting meeting.

In other news, official data earlier showed that the Australian economy added 10,700 jobs in October, far more than the expected 200 increase, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.4%, beating expectations for a rise to 5.5%. Finally, the New Zealand, government data showed that the unemployment rate jumped to 7.3% in the third quarter, up from 6.8% in the previous quarter and a 13-year high.

Daily Morning Report 08/11/2012

The New Zealand Dollar traded sharply lower versus its major counterparts as disappointing employment data came across the newswires prompting Forex traders to unwind their high yielding positions in the kiwi on speculation the RBNZ may issue a rate reduction effectively diminishing the currencies most attractive feature. The unemployment rate in New Zealand increased to 7.3 percent in the third quarter up from 6.8 percent in the second quarter while the participation rate remained at 68.4 percent.

Greek lawmakers approved a multibillion-euro austerity package early Thursday in an effort to win more bailout funds, but the measures also threaten to deepen the country's brutal recession and destabilize the country's fragile three-party coalition government. Greece's parliament must also approve a troika-approved 2013 national budget in a separate vote set for Sunday.

in Japan machine orders fell by 4.3 percent in September marking the second consecutive month of fading industrial activity while the trade deficit narrowed to -471.3 billion yen in September down from -644.5 billion the prior month.

The Australian Dollar found support as the Aussie economy added 10,700 new jobs in October, but failed to drag the unemployment rate down from 5.4 percent. 18,700 workers found full time work where 8,000 part timers lost their pay.

Daily Morning Report 07/11/2012 | Forex Trading Analysis

The EUR/USD rallied back above the 1.2800 as the market trades back and forth in a extensive range today ahead of the US Presidential election results due and the Greek austerity bill that goes for a vote at Parliament. 

The British pound strengthened on early Wednesday and rose to fresh highs above 1.6000 versus the dollar as investors sentiment improved. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research in the UK released the October estimate of the country's GDP taking in account the last three months, pointing at 0.5% growth. The September figure was revised higher, from 0.8% to 1.0%.

Obama wining the overall election for US presidency has become a bit clearer as he's currently taking over the lead. The Obama re-election as US President means that Bernanke would stay as visible head for the FED, and markets are interpreting this is good news for bonds and gold, as the FED will continue the easing programs, and inflation will keep afloat.