{"id":498,"date":"2009-02-18T16:04:26","date_gmt":"2009-02-18T21:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/fx\/?p=498"},"modified":"2009-02-18T16:04:26","modified_gmt":"2009-02-18T21:04:26","slug":"fundamental-outlook-at-1500-gmt-est-0500-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/2009\/02\/18\/fundamental-outlook-at-1500-gmt-est-0500-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Fundamental Outlook at 1500 GMT (EST + 0500)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u20ac<\/strong><\/p>\n

The euro moved lower vis-\u00e0-vis the U.S. dollar today as the single currency tested bids around the US$ 1.2510 level and was capped around the $1.2640 level.\u00a0 Several factors continue to plague the common currency. First, Eastern European markets remain in rough shape. Credit default swaps on some sovereign debt are at all-time highs with Hungarian CDS rates around 550bps.\u00a0 There is growing concern that western European banks may be forced to bail out their Eastern European subsidiaries.\u00a0 Second, there are lingering rumours that some countries may leave the eurozone, an assertion that German finance minister Steinbrueck flatly rejected as \u201cabsurd\u201d today.\u00a0 Third, the European Commission criticized France, Spain, Ireland, Greece, Malta, and Latvia for their large budget deficits.\u00a0 Fourth, the German government reported \u201cThe outlook for the current year remains strongly clouded for the time being. Current economic indicators signal that the decline of economic activities will continue in the first quarter of 2009.\u00a0 The world economic conditions continue to hurt. In addition, there are the increasingly direct consequences of the financial market crisis, in particular through a tightening of banks’ conditions for companies’ funding.\u201d\u00a0 Most traders believe European Central Bank will ease interest rates by at least 50bps next month.\u00a0 In U.S. news, January housing starts were off 16.8% while January building permits were off 4.8%.\u00a0 Additionally, the industrial production index fell to 101.3 while capacity utilization moderated to 72.0 from 73.3 in December.\u00a0 Also, it as reported the January import price index improved to -1.1%.\u00a0 Traders cite an increasing likelihood the Obama administration may nationalize some U.S. banks with Citigroup and Bank of America as two possibilities.\u00a0 Euro bids are cited around the US$ 1.2475 level.<\/p>\n

\u00a5\/ CNY<\/strong><\/p>\n

The yen depreciated vis-\u00e0-vis the U.S. dollar today as the greenback tested offers around the \u00a593.95 level and was supported around the \u00a592.10 level.\u00a0 The yen came off across the board as traders chased dollar-bloc yields plays in the loonie, Aussie, and kiwi.\u00a0 Bank of Japan reported it will restart its purchases of equities from banks on 23 February, a temporary program designed to help the ailing banking sector.\u00a0 The total size of the central bank\u2019s purchases will likely be around \u00a51 trillion and BoJ could announce new measures at the end of tonight\u2019s Policy Board meeting to expand corporate debt purchase operations.\u00a0 The Nikkei 225 stock index lost 1.45% to close at \u00a57,534.44.\u00a0 U.S. dollar offers are cited around the \u00a5104.15 level.\u00a0 The euro moved higher vis-\u00e0-vis the yen as the single currency tested offers around the \u00a5118.05 level and was supported around the \u00a5115.95 level.\u00a0 The British pound moved higher vis-\u00e0-vis the yen as sterling tested offers around the \u00a5133.70 level while the Swiss franc moved higher vis-\u00e0-vis the yen and tested offers around the \u00a579.60 level.\u00a0 The Chinese yuan depreciated vis-\u00e0-vis the U.S. dollar as the greenback closed at CNY 6.8378 in the over-the-counter market, up from CNY 6.8355.\u00a0 The government rejected a media report that it is forecasting a depreciation in the yuan. The government reported China\u2019s 2008 current account surplus was around US$ 440 billion.<\/p>\n

Daily Market Commentary provided by GCI Financial Ltd<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

GCI Financial Ltd (“GCI”) is a regulated securities and commodities trading firm, specializing in online Foreign Exchange (“Forex”) brokerage. GCI executes billions of dollars per month in foreign exchange transactions alone. In addition to Forex, GCI is a primary market maker in Contracts for Difference (“CFDs”) on shares, indices and futures, and offers one of the fastest growing online CFD trading services. GCI has over 10,000 clients worldwide, including individual traders, institutions, and money managers. GCI provides an advanced, secure, and comprehensive online trading system. Client funds are insured and held in a separate customer account. In addition, GCI Financial Ltd maintains Net Capital in excess of minimum regulatory requirements.<\/p>\n

DISCLAIMER: GCI\u2019s Daily Market Commentary is provided for informational purposes only. The information contained in these reports is gathered from reputable news sources and is not intended to be U.S.ed as investment advice. GCI assumes no responsibility or liability from gains or losses incurred by the information herein contained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The euro moved lower vis-\u00e0-vis the U.S. dollar today as the single currency tested bids around the US$ 1.2510 level and was capped around the $1.2640 level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}