Agricole Based On Marketwatch

Fundamental Analysis EUR "The results are a far cry from the blowout auctions we saw between December and February, which will no doubt be interpreted as the LTRO bid having dried up" - Peter Chatwell, Interest Rate Strategist at Credit Agricole in LondonSpain’s cost of borrowing surged after the first auction since the country presented its austerity budget. Yields on 10-year sovereign bonds soared by 11 basis points to 5.52%. USD "I would have to see some pretty severe circumstances before I endorse for another round of quantitative easing" - Dennis Lockhart, Atlanta Fed President Federal Reserve policymakers believe that improving US economy reduces the need for further monetary accommodation, with reference to minutes of the central bank’s March meeting. GBP "The last five years ...

Dukascopy Technical Analysis EUR/USD "With concerns about global growth now weighing on sentiment, the single currency seems to behave like a proper funding currency should do—it rallies against risk-correlated currencies. We suspect that this should remain the case in the near term" - Citigroup (based on Reuters) The pair is attempting to advance further and it is likely to test the 7-month high at 1.3457. EUR/JPY "Over the short term, there appears to be little to jolt markets out of their stupor and if anything, is likely to continue to drift higher according to our short-term quantitative models" - Credit Agricole (based on MarketWatch) A fierce resistance lies ahead of EUR/JPY at 111.57 (intervention high). If EUR/USD fails to advance higher, it will commence a slide back towards ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "Ifo index provides further evidence that the economic contraction at the end of last year was only a brief stopover" - Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING Group German business confidence improved more than expected in February, defying fears that the euro zone’s largest economy has slipped into recession. USD " are in line with recent U.S. data showing a gradually improving economic backdrop" - Omer Esiner, a market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange The number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits remained unchanged at 351,000 thousand in the week ended February 18 from the week before, said the Department of Labor on Thursday. GBP "Beyond March, the mortgage market is likely to click back into its default mode of flat" - William ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "The decline in euro-area December retail sales confirms our view that private consumption is likely to have fallen in the fourth quarter" - James Ashley, senior European economist at RBC Capital Markets Euro zone retail sales declined unexpectedly in December, said the European Union's statistics office Eurostat on Friday. Retail sales fell 0.4 per cent from November after declining by the same amount in October. USD "The report was much better than expected in terms of indicating fundamental strength in the economy" - Pierre Ellis, senior economist at Decision Economics The number of Americans, who have found a job in January rose to nine-month high of 243,000, said the Labor Department on Friday, pushing unemployment rate lower to 8.3 per cent, the lowest ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "Spain is showing the market there’s ample demand for their paper" - Padhraic Garvey, head of developed markets debt strategy at ING Bank NV France and Spain, both downgraded by Standard & Poor’s last week, paid lower borrowing costs on Thursday, compared to their previous auctions, a sign the ECB’s refinancing operation alleviated market concern over the Europe’s debt crisis. USD "You’ve got a gradual improvement in the labor market" - Brian Jones, a senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale The number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits dropped by 50,000 to 352,000 in the week ended January 14, the lowest level in nearly four years, said the Department of Labor on Thursday. GBP "Right to the end, 2011 was an extremely tough year for UK consumers" ...