Daily Afternoon Report 04/12/2012 | Forex Trading Analysis

  The US dollar was broadly lower against the other major currencies as investor confidence was boosted by hopes that Greece’s plan to buy back debt will succeed. EURUSD found support after Greece launched a scheme to buy back its debt from private investors, as part of an agreement to unlock a new bailout package worth EUR44 billion. European Union finance ministers were holding talks in Brussels on Tuesday, to discuss banking supervision in the euro zone.

  The GBP remained supported after data showed that construction sector activity in the U.K. unexpectedly declined to a three month low in November.

  The yen strengthened after Monday’s weak U.S. manufacturing data and ongoing concerns over the U.S. fiscal cliff enhanced the safe haven appeal of the currency.

 Click Here! The Australian dollar turned higher earlier after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark interest rate to 3% from 3.25% in a widely anticipated decision. RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said the Australian dollar remains “higher than might have been expected” given lower export prices and a weaker global outlook.

Daily Morning Report 29/11/2012 | Forex Trading Analysis

The dollar fell against the major currencies on Thursday. President Obama told the world that “something will be done” to steer the country away from the fiscal cliff, which boosted the euro on sentiment U.S. policymakers will put politics aside and make tough tax and spending reforms needed to avoid the cliff. U.S., the Commerce Department reported earlier that new home sales fell by 0.3% to a seasonally adjusted 368,000 units in October, confounding expectations for an increase to 390,000.

Later Thursday, the U.S. is to produce revised data on third quarter gross domestic product, as well as data on pending home sales and initial jobless claims.

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 Afternoon Report 26/10/2012

Earlier in the day, official data showed that Tokyo's core consumer price inflation, which excludes fell by 0.4% in October, less than the expected 0.5% decline, following after a 0.4% fall the previous month.

In the U.S., real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.0 percent in the third quarter of 2012, according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  The increase in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), federal government spending, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from exports, non-residential fixed investment, and private inventory investment.  Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased.

In addition to that, the dollar index rose to its highest in 1-1/2 months on Friday, helped by the U.S. currency gains against the euro as fresh worries about Greece weighed on the single currency.

Elsewhere, a preliminary report by the IMF showed on Thursday that the Greek debt will be above the target of 120 percent of GDP in 2020, hence Athens will need more reforms before emergency credit from international lenders can start flowing again.

A separate report showed that Spain's unemployment rate rose to 25.0% in the second quarter, from a rate of 24.6% the previous quarter, barely beating expectations for a rise to 25.1%.

Daily Morning Report 26/10/2012

In Europe, the IMF dropped the Irish GDP forecast to 1.1% and the Bundesbank points to downside risks of the 1.8% growth forecast in Germany. The Euro has extended its weakening against the US Dollar after the US closing bell in the back of news from APPL missing dividends estimates and news from Europe on Greece needs an additional €30 billion thru 2016.

The Aussie dollar started a rally early Wednesday morning that instigated with the surprise showing from 3Q CPI figures. The 2.0 per cent pace it does remove some pressure for aggressive cuts.

The Chinese PMI figures which printed better than expected but were 12 months into a reductionary phase. The UK Q3 GDP came much stronger-than-expected at 1% versus 0.6%.

 AUD/JPY is set to print gains for a third straight week, with traders observing for the Bank of Japan to increase its current 90 trillion Yen QE program by another 10 trillion Yen next week, according to the latest Japanese press reports.

Daily Afternoon Report 25/10/2012

Earlier Thursday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.5%, marking Governor Graeme Wheeler's first decision as head of the central bank, after replacing Alan Bollard in late September.

The preliminary release of the UK Q3 GDP came in much stronger than expected causing EUR/GBP to plunge, while GBP/USD rose.

The euro extended its correction versus the dollar after the jobless claims drop as well as the durable goods orders rise to more than expected levels.

Elsewhere, the yen remained broadly weaker amid mounting speculation over the possibility of more easing by the BoJ at its upcoming policy meeting on October 30.

Monday 22 October 2012 Live Chart