Data Drives Risk

Asian shares tumbled on Friday and were set for their worst weekly showing since September, amid political turmoil in Greece and signs of growing instability in Spanish banks, with investors adding the latest weak U.S. data to the list of risk factors. Assets across the board, from commodities such as oil and gold to riskier currencies such as the euro and the Australian dollar were all heading for their weekly losses. Financial stocks were hammered after the head of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AX) said volatile conditions in global markets have caused the wholesale funding market for Australian banks to freeze again, a worrying echo of the global financial crisis. European shares were also set to fall, with financial spreadbetters predicting that major European markets ...

Forex Morning Briefing : Euro weighed by sour economic data; ECB meeting in focus What’s new: Forex: Euro hurt by downbeat euro zone data; forex investors brace for more dovish ECB Global Markets: Asian shares weighed by sour data from both sides of Atlantic New Zealand: Sharp rise in jobless rate to 6.7% from 6.3% drives kiwi lower Euro zone: Spanish bond sale, ECB meeting in focus Euro zone: Unemployment rate edges to 15-year high United States: Treasury Secretary Geithner repeats call for stronger Chinese yuan United States: ADP employment report shows lowest gain in 7 months Rates in Asia and Indices: EUR/USD 1.3135 1.316 -0.07 % USD/CHF 0.913 0.9148 -0.08 % GBP/USD 1.6171 1.6203 -0.04 % USD/JPY 80.1 80. ...

www.sunbirdfx.com The US stock markets opened the trading week deeply in the green territory as NASDAQ led the markets to new highs. On the weekly analysis we mentioned that the indices made the bullish reversal pattern on Friday and therefore we expected them to resume rising. The investors ignored the disappointing pending home sales data and what drives the markets is the fact that the hedge funds, who believed that the markets were about to correct down, had to push more money into the stock markets in order to stick with the S&P 500. USD/JPY Last week we estimated that the Yen would correct to the 50% Fibonacci levels and eventually it found the support around the round number 82.0. The most interesting thing about this pair is that whereas the major currencies are getting ...

(Reuters) - Spring is in the air for financial markets. Liquidity is abundant, the desire to invest is rising and green shoots of growth are becoming more apparent across the developed world. The official start of spring in the northern hemisphere falls on March 20, when night and day are equally long, but before investors put a grim winter behind them entirely, they may want to wait for surveys of economic health in China and the euro zone due a couple of days later. Along with this purchasing managers data, the coming week's releases feature a detailed readout on the health of the U.S. housing market, inflation measures from the UK and Germany, and Japan's latest trade figures. And perhaps the biggest cloud on the horizon is rising oil prices, which are threatening to unleash ...

A few months ago economists were all but certain the U.S. economy would slow sharply at the start of this year, with many warning that recession risks were growing. That pessimism has been shaken off by a string of surprisingly solid data that paint a picture of an economy with building momentum. The jobs market is picking up, manufacturing is accelerating and the service sector is also flexing its muscle - good news for President Barack Obama, who faces an election battle in November. "We were among those people that had been expecting growth to slow. It now seems a lot less likely," said Jeremy Lawson, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York. The main reason for this newfound optimism is rising employment, which should help support the consumer spending that drives two-thirds of U.S. ...

(Reuters) - A few months ago economists were all but certain the U.S. economy would slow sharply at the start of this year, with many warning that recession risks were growing. That pessimism has been shaken off by a string of surprisingly solid data that paint a picture of an economy with building momentum. The jobs market is picking up, manufacturing is accelerating and the service sector is also flexing its muscle - good news for President Barack Obama, who faces an election battle in November. "We were among those people that had been expecting growth to slow. It now seems a lot less likely," said Jeremy Lawson, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York. The main reason for this newfound optimism is rising employment, which should help support the consumer spending that drives two- ...

The Week Ahead Highlights Better data drives risk on, Fed QE3 off Still waiting on a Greek debt deal Central banks' decisions on tap Better data drives risk on, Fed QE3 off The past week ended with a string of better-than-expected data releases from key major economies, suggesting the global recovery may avoid a more worrisome downturn. Mostly better than expected PMI's from Europe, UK, China and the US were supplemented on Friday by a much stronger US employment report than was expected. We're cautiously optimistic that the better US jobs report is a valid signal that the US recovery is improving, but we're also aware that January employment numbers are especially volatile due to seasonal factors, and subject to major revision. The decline in the unemployment rate in the ...

(Reuters) - The U.S. stock-market surge in January may feel to some like having reached a remote mountain peak. It was a lot of work, but there are not many people to celebrate with. The S&P 500 .SPX rose 4.4 percent in January, the second-best month for stocks since 2010. But trading volumes were down sharply - speaking to worries that the market's gains are unsustainable. Rather than a cause for concern, however, strategists say the reduced volume may be better down the road for individual investors frustrated in recent years with the fluctuations caused in part by volatile, computer-driven activity. January, in contrast to wild daily moves during the summer of 2011, was relatively quiet. That kept high-frequency traders and hedge funds that capitalize on big shifts on the sidelines. ...

Ahead of a key European interest rate announcement scheduled for later today, the EUR once again has turned bearish following comments from a from a leading credit agency which highlighted just how vulnerable the currency is. With Spanish and Italian debt auctions scheduled to close out the week, traders can count on heavy volatility throughout the day today. Economic News USD - Return to Safe-Havens Turns USD Bullish The US dollar recouped many of its losses from earlier in the week yesterday, as traders once again abandoned riskier assets in favor of safe-haven currencies like the greenback. The move brought the EUR/USD just shy of its 16-month low, while the GBP/USD fell to right around the 1.5300 level. The dollar's bullish movement began after comments by a leading credit agency ...