Japanese Yen Strengthens

Fundamental Analysis EUR "The overall manufacturing trend remains weak." - Pierre-Olivier Beffy, chief economist at Exane BNP Paribas French industrial production fell in March, said the national statistics office Insee on Thursday. Output contracted 0.9 per cent from February, when it gained 0.2 per cent. USD "It’s hard to get nervous that imports are rising." - Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital Inc. The number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits fell to 367,000 in the week ended May 5 from 368,000 the week before, said the Department of Labor on Thursday. GBP "Our forecast is that they are done with QE, but you can’t rule out more later this year." - Ross Walker, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc The Bank of England kept rates on hold ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "The real concern isn’t about Greece, it’s about the euro and whether it breaks up -- that is key." - Mark Tinker, a fund manager at AXA Framlington Investment EUR Management European stocks declined on Wednesday as investors awaited resolution of Greek coalition talks and yields on Spanish 10-year bonds rose above 6 per cent. USD "Certainly as a result of the elections in Greece, the odds of a default and an exit from the euro have increased." - James Dunigan, chief investment officer for PNC Wealth Management U.S. wholesale inventories rose in March at a slowest pace since November, Commerce Department data showed on Wednesday. GBP "Consumers, struggling to balance their household budgets, remain reluctant to spend..." - Stephen Robertson, BRC director ...

Risk aversion is rising right now, and the Japanese yen is gaining across the board because of it. Concerns about Europe continue to dominate the markets, and Forex traders are looking for stability and safe haven. The Japanese yen offers that, and is quite popular right now. The biggest concern right now is Greece. Right now, the party Syriza is trying to form a government, but that party (known for its anti-bailout sentiment and opposition to austerity measures) is having difficulty forming a government. Others will be given three days to form a government, and if no one can, elections will be called again. In any case, there are concerns that the Greek government can’t pull it off, and that Greece will withdraw from the monetary union by the end of the year. With risk aversion such a ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR Unemployment in Spain approached a new record of 5.64 million in March while the jobless rate topped 24.4%, reported the national statistics office. Analysts expect the Spain's officials to confirm that the country is falling into recession. Meanwhile, retail sales in the country declined by 3.7% in March on an annual basis. USD US consumer spending surged in March, adding to the previous gains as incomes increased. Household purchases that account about 70% of the US economy surged by 0.3%, following a 0.9% increase in February. Experts projected consumer spending to rise by 0.4%. Meanwhile, incomes eased up 0.4%, indicating the largest increase in the last three months. GBP UK home value accelerated in April, the second straight month, Hometrack Ltd said on ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR Spain's credit rating was lowered by Standard & Poor's for a second time in 2012 on enduring worries the nation will have to apply additional fiscal backing to lenders as the economy shrinks. S&P cut its long term grade for Spain from A to BBB+ adding a negative outlook. Country's short term rating was lowered from A-1 to A-2, S&P agency reported on Thursday. USD Crude oil price declined from almost 4-week high in New York trade after S&P ratings agency cut Spain's sovereign credit rating, boosting concerns that further recession in Europe may halt demand for crude. Oil to be delivered in June lost USD 0.61, reaching USD 103.94 a barrel. June Brent oil gave up USD 0.49 and traded at USD 119.43 a barrel. GBP Today the Great Britain Pound extended its gains ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "The debt crisis is far from over still and I think Spain will be worse before it gets better" - Henrik Drusebjerg, a senior equity strategist at Nordea Bank AB The seasonally adjusted current account of the euro zone swung a deficit of €1.3 billion in February from a surplus of €3.7 billion in January, said the European Central Bank on Wednesday. USD "We got used to companies beating estimates by a pretty good margin" - Burt White, chief investment officer at LPL Financial Corp. U.S. stocks fell after Intel Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. disappointed market participants with their quarterly results. GBP "… the monetary policy committee is likely to remain on hold on the stock of asset purchases at its May meeting" - Mauro Giorgio Marrano, an ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "Yes, the economy avoided falling off the cliff, but it is still flirting with recession" - Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING Group An index of German investor confidence unexpectedly rose to 23.4 in April from 22.3 in March, said the ZEW Centre for European Economic Research on Tuesday. USD "Housing continues to bump along the bottom”" - Jacob Oubina, a senior U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets LLC U.S. housing starts fell in March but building permits rose to highest level since 2009, Commerce Department data showed on Tuesday. Groundbreakings declined to an annual rate of 0.65 million, while permits advanced to 0.75 million. GBP "There seems to be a little bit of payback from the previous couple of months’ brisker growth" - Philip Rush, an ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR The 17-nation currency depreciated versus its US counterpart and Japanese currency ahead of Spanish debt sale on Tuesday. The Euro shed 0.2% versus US Dollar to USD 1.3110 and gave up also 0.2% against Yen to JPY 105.42. Currently EUR/USD is trading at USD 1.3110 and EUR/JPY is trading at JPY 105.41. USD China has raised its US debt holding for the second consecutive month as country's foreign exchange portion continued to advance. China purchased 12.7 billion US dollars of the US Treasuries in February thus boosting the debt holding to 1,178.9 billion US Dollars, according to the US Treasury Department. Chinese foreign exchange reserves gained 3.9% in Q1 on an annual basis. GBP FTSE 100 index rallied on Tuesday as Spanish successfully auctioned bonds and US ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "It is looking more and more likely that Spain is going to have some form of a bailout" - Lyn Graham-Taylor, Rabobank strategist Spain's cost of borrowing on the international debt markets breached the level of 6 per cent for 10-year bonds on Monday, mounting pressure on the European Central Bank to conduct new round of bond purchases. USD "There is no sign that higher fuel prices have damaged consumer sentiment and spending" - Jeremy Lawson, a senior U.S. economist at BNP Paribas U.S. month on month retail sales rose by more than expected in March, said the Census Bureau on Monday. Total retail sales increased 0.8 per cent the previous month after increasing 1.0 per cent in February. GBP " is not a universal signal of a housing-market recovery" - Miles ...