Yen Gets A Boost

Sunrise Market Commentary - Fixed Income: Risk off pushes German bond yields to new lows - Risk off sentiment pushed core bonds higher and non-core bond yield spreads re-widened substantially. The Summit didn't bring new information, but another hole found in Spain's regions' budgets might get attention today. - Currencies EUR/USD cedes the 1.2624 support - On Wednesday, the EMU debt crisis was again omnipresent. Markets feared that the EU leaders wouldn't be able to take decisive action to address the debt crisis. Extreme risk aversion pushed EUR/USD to a new low for 2012. The losses of EUR/GBP were more contained, as poor UK retail sales and rather soft BoE minutes kept the door open for more policy stimulation. The Sunrise Headlines - In the final hour of trading, US ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR Gold extended previous gains in Asian session on Tuesday as concerns over Greek exit from the single currency union eased. At G8 summit leaders of eighth largest economies stated that they would do everything possible to retain Greece in the Euro Zone. COMEX gold June contract traded at 1,592.35 US Dollars per troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, advancing by 0.23%. USD The US Senate has passed a bill aimed at tightening sanctions imposed on Iran to force the country to cease its nuclear program. The new sanctions imply investigation of role of Iran's Revolutionary Guard in oil exports as well as obliging the US companies to disclose any business activities with Iranian partners. The move came ahead of negotiations between Iran and six major ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "Inevitably there is going to be an element of bargain hunting as investors look to top up their holdings on the basis of slightly lower prices" - Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers European stocks edged higher on Monday on China’s pledge to boost growth. USD "Equity prices have gotten oversold" - Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist for Janney Montgomery Scott LLC U.S. equity market edged higher on Monday on China stimulus hopes and after German and French officials said they would cooperate to keep Greece in the monetary union. GBP "Obviously, as the euro depreciates, the U.K. gets slightly more expensive" - Miles Shipside, Rightmove commercial director U.K. national house prices stagnated in March, announced the ...

The Week Ahead ■The Bank of England's next move ■Is this the beginning of the end for the Eurozone? ■Fed officials reluctant to signal more easing ■Broader risk environment outweighs Japanese rhetoric The Bank of England's next move The BOE kept rates on hold when it concluded its May meeting last week; it also allowed the asset purchase program to come to an end. Since the UK slipped back into recession in Q1 2012 and the growth figures at the start of the second quarter have continued to look weak, the decision to hold interest rates was mostly down to the sticky outlook for inflation. The attention now turns to Wednesday's Inflation Report. The focus will be on the Bank's growth and inflation forecasts. The growth forecasts are likely to be revised lower. Even ...

Market wrap A disappointing US payrolls report hurt sentiment, pushing equities, risky currencies, commodities and interest rates lower. Only 115,000 jobs were added in April versus 160,000 expected. There were, however, positive back revisions and the unemployment rate fell from 8.2% to 8.1%, initially causing some confusion in markets before judgement was passed it was a weak outcome. Also reported was lower Eurozone manufacturing activity, adding to the negative market tone. The S&P500 closed down 1.6% and the CRB commodities index fell 1.4%. US 10yr treasury yields closed 5bp lower at 1.88%, earlier making a 3 Feb low at 1.87%. Australian 3yr bond yields fell 6bp. A few hours ago, results from European elections were announced. France has a new (socialist) president, and Greece's two ...

Spain was in focus this morning after rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded 11 of Spain's largest banks, which comes only a few days after the agency cut Spain's sovereign rating to BBB+ with a negative outlook. The bank/ sovereign feedback loop is getting more and more toxic for Spain. Like Ireland, bad bank debts seem to lead back to the government, while Spanish banks see their capital bases eroded when Spanish bonds weaken since they hold so much domestic sovereign debt. The only 'good' news was that Spain's official GDP figures for Q1 were slightly less bad than expected. The economy contracted by 0.3% rather than the 0.4% that was forecast by the market (and announced by the Bank of Spain 2 weeks ago). It's difficult to know why there was an improvement as the bulk of the detail ...

The last 24 hours have heaped even more pressure on Madrid. First there was Standard & Poor's two notch rating downgrade for Spain from A to BBB+ with a negative outlook. Second, was a further deterioration in the unemployment rate in the first quarter. S&P's rationale for the downgrade was down to 1, the possibility that the government will need to provide further fiscal support to the banking sector and 2, the deterioration in the budget deficit trajectory for 2011-2015. S&P also mentioned the significant risks to Spain's economic growth, which could weigh on the country's creditworthiness. Spain now has the same rating as Ireland after S&P affirmed Ireland's rating at BBB+ with a negative outlook. It sounded fairly impressed with the Irish government's 'proactive and substantive' ...

(Reuters) - Asian shares pushed higher on Friday on firm U.S. data despite a two-notch downgrade of Spain's credit rating that capped gains, while fresh easing measures by the Bank of Japan supported Tokyo stocks. Japan's central bank moved as expected to help fight deep deflation, initially pushing Japanese stocks up more than 1 percent and helping drag the broader Asian stock higher. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan extended gains to a 0.4 percent rise, headed by the technology sector with a 1.6 percent rise. At current levels, the index was set for a 0.2 percent weekly gain. Seoul shares outperformed, rising on the back of a record $5.15 billion first-quarter profit by Samsung Electronics, which boosted its shares by more than 3 percent to an all-time ...

(Reuters) - The euro hovered near a three-week high against the dollar on Wednesday after euro zone sovereign debt attracted decent demand and strong earnings from Apple boosted risk appetite, while focus turned to the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting. The euro traded at $1.3197, close to levels not seen in three weeks, after hitting the previous session's low of 1.3145. Immediate resistance is at last week's high of 1.3225. Investors were relieved when successful auctions sent yields on Dutch, Spanish and Italian debt lower on Tuesday, a day after the government in the Netherlands collapsed in a crisis over budget cuts. Traders cited stop losses at 1.3230 in the common currency, while chartists suggested that if they get triggered, the euro would target resistance at the 61.8 ...