Morning Briefing : FED continues to pump dollars into the system for undefined period

What’s new:
Asia: Asian Indices close mixed ahead of Chinese New Year holiday period starting  next week
Forex: Profit taking in YEN related pairs
Forex: Kiwi dollar stronger after rate left unchanged

Overnight rates and Indices:
EUR/USD            1.3544    1.3584    -0.07 %
USD/CHF               0.9088    0.9118    -0.08 %
GBP/USD             1.5792    1.5835    0.16 %
USD/JPY                 90.75    91.15    0.23 %
EUR/CHF              1.2336    1.23704    -0.01 %
EUR/JPY                122.99    123.72    0.30 %
Dow Jones      13896.95    13966.13    -0.31 %
Nasdaq              2732.05    2757.09    -0.17 %
S&P 500             1500.11    1509.94    -0.38 %
Nikkei 225        11007.77    11145.38    0.22 %
Shanghai             2371.23    2391.82    0.12 %
Gold spot            1673.03    1680.85    0.05 %
Crude Oil                 97.67    98.04    -0.04 %

Comments:
Asian stock markets were mixed on the final day of the month, the Nikkei posted a small gain whereas the Hang Seng Index closed in the red. Chinese investors usually tend to act a bit on the defensive side ahead of the Chinese New Year period starting next week. The Chinese Stock market will then be closed for 7 days. 
We see some profit taking in the YEN related pairs – with USD/JPY coming down from 91.41. EUR/JPY Investors also took some chips off the table with the pair re-testing the 123 level after trading as high as 123.87 yesterday. The New Zealand Dollar was stronger in overnight trading - especially against a weaker Aussie - after the Central Bank of New Zealand left the benchmark rate unchanged at 2.5 %.

In a statement last night after their two day meeting the US-Federal Reserve said that “economic growth faces downside risks”, suggesting that the FED will continue to pump billions of Dollars into the system for a yet undefined period.
In the afternoon we get economic data out of the US, with the weekly jobless claims in focus ahead of tomorrow`s big non-farm payroll numbers. Furthermore we expect personal income and personal spending data as well as the Chicago PMI.

Henry Philippson - Junior Trader - RTFX Ltd