Daily Afternoon Report 29/10/2012

UK mortgage approvals rose for the fourth straight month in September, possibly signalling the success of the BoE’s funding for lending scheme. Home loans were up to 50,024 in September, beating expectations for 48,700, and higher than August’s revised 47,921 mortgages.  

Net consumer credit was 1.2 billion Pounds in September, according to the Bank of England. Earlier today, housing prices were reported to have fallen 0.1% in the UK according to the Hometrack Housing Survey.

As Spain is expected to contract for the fifth consecutive quarter, the heightening threat for a prolonged recession will continue to dampen the appeal of the Euro, and the European Central Bank might come under additional pressure to expand monetary policy further as the governments functioning under the single-currency become increasingly dependent on monetary support.

The ECB may have little choice but to push the benchmark interest rate further to a fresh record-low amid the weakening outlook for growth and inflation, and we may see the Governing Council carry its easing cycle into the following year as European policy makers struggle to stem the threat for contagion. The EURUSD slipped as an 11% drop in Spanish retail sales dampened the outlook for the euro-area, and the single currency may face additional headwinds.

Daily Morning Report 29/10/2012

The dollar traded higher against most major currencies on Monday, as investors snapped up safe-haven USD positions to brace for U.S. unemployment data due out later this week as well as the Bank of Japan's latest decision on interest rates.

The USD was up against the GBP, CAD, NZD, AUD, JPY and CHF in Asian session.

 Fears Greece may run into hurdles securing its next tranche of bailout money sparked the risk-off session as well.

Japan, meanwhile, is to release data on unemployment, household spending and industrial production this week, though investors were keeping a close eye on the Bank of Japan, which will announce its latest decision with interest rates and monetary policy on Tuesday.

Later Monday, the U.S. government plans to issue data on personal income and spending for September on Monday even though the government has shut down to brace for Hurricane Sandy. The Federal Reserve, however, will postpone its regularly scheduled data. The Commerce Department will post the monthly report on consumer spending on its web site at 1230 GMT, as regularly scheduled. In contrast, the Fed said it would wait until the federal government reopens to release its data, including a weekly report on selected interest rates and figures on commercial paper issuance.