{"id":699,"date":"2009-03-03T14:45:57","date_gmt":"2009-03-03T19:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/fx\/?p=699"},"modified":"2009-03-03T14:45:57","modified_gmt":"2009-03-03T19:45:57","slug":"fundamental-outlook-at-1500-gmt-est-0500-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/2009\/03\/03\/fundamental-outlook-at-1500-gmt-est-0500-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Fundamental Outlook at 1500 GMT (EST + 0500)"},"content":{"rendered":"

By GCI Fx Research<\/span><\/p>\n

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

The euro depreciated vis-\u00e0-vis the U.S. dollar today as the single currency tested bids around the US$ 1.2540 level and was capped around the $1.2675 level.\u00a0 Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke testified today and said the Obama budget plan is an \u201cambitious agenda.\u201d\u00a0 He also informed Congress that policymakers must decide between financial stability and fiscal stimulus in the medium-term.\u00a0 U.S. equity markets opened to the high side and then faded back to the minus side during Bernanke\u2019s question-and-answer session. Bernanke also referred to AIG as an \u201cuncomfortable situation\u201d in which an insurance company was essentially operating as a hedge fund.\u00a0 Traders are already speculating that Friday\u2019s U.S. February non-farm payrolls number is going to be horrendous.\u00a0 The Fed also announced the launch of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), a component of the Consumer and Business Lending Initiative (CBLI).\u00a0 For now, this facility will lend up to US$ 200 billion to certain owners of AAA-rated asset-backed securities.\u00a0\u00a0 U.S. Treasury Secretary testifies before the House later in the North American session.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Data released in the U.S. today saw the January pending home sales index off 7.7%. Boston Federal Reserve President Rosengren reported \u201cI believe it would be desirable to move quickly to remove problem assets from bank balance sheets, so banks can once again focus on future prospects rather than past mistakes. Banks without troubled assets focus on avoiding further losses and further depleting capital.\u201d\u00a0 Policymakers are trying to avoid what the market is now calling \u201czombie banks\u201d \u2013 banks that receive appreciable amounts of public liquidity injections, aren\u2019t nationalized, and aren\u2019t being restored to a healthy position.\u00a0 In eurozone news, many traders expect the European Central Bank will ease interest rates by 50bps on Thursday.\u00a0 European Union official Alumnia reported the EU will consider assembling a second fiscal stimulus for the region.\u00a0 The French government warned its 2009 public deficit will exceed 5% of gross domestic product.\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 \u00a598.15 level and was supported around the \u00a597.00 figure.\u00a0 The yen was given across the board as some risk appetite returned to the markets following significant losses in global equity markets yesterday.\u00a0 There is ongoing speculation Japan may pursue a weaker yen in the coming months to counter its eroding trade balance, historically a major contributor to the country\u2019s gross domestic product.\u00a0 Bank of Japan Policy Board member Suda speaks overnight and may discuss the central bank\u2019s plans to purchase additional market assets such as Japanese government bonds.\u00a0 The Nikkei 225 stock index lost 0.69% to close at \u00a57,229.72. 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 bids around the \u00a5124.25 level and was supported around the \u00a5121.70 level.\u00a0 The British pound moved higher vis-\u00e0-vis the yen as sterling tested offers around the \u00a5138.60 level while the Swiss franc moved higher vis-\u00e0-vis the yen and tested bids around the \u00a583.90 level.\u00a0 The Chinese yuan depreciated vis-\u00e0-vis the U.S. dollar as the greenback closed at CNY 6.8413 in the over-the-counter market, down from CNY 6.8438.\u00a0 People\u2019s Bank of China Vice Governor Su Ning reported China\u2019s foreign reserves are only invested outside of China to avoid inflation the country\u2019s money supply. Commerce Minister Chen said there is not a need for the yuan\u2019s exchange rate to depreciate slightly now.<\/p>\n

\u20a4<\/strong><\/p>\n

The British pound came off vis-\u00e0-vis the U.S. dollar today as cable tested bids around the US$ 1.3985 level and was capped around the $ 1.4155 level.\u00a0 Traders are poised for another interest rate cut from Bank of England\u2019s Monetary Policy Committee on Thursday.\u00a0 More importantly, however, traders expect BoE will announce plans to conduct unstertilized asset purchases and expand its balance sheet.\u00a0 This would be similar to the Fed\u2019s massive credit easing and will be designed to steer market interest rates lower, especially in the asset-backed commercial paper market.\u00a0 CBI today reported 60% of companies have seen the availability of credit worsen.\u00a0 Also, it was reported that U.K. February construction PMI worsened to 27.8.\u00a0 Cable bids are cited around the US$ 1.3340 level.\u00a0 The euro moved higher vis-\u00e0-vis the British pound as the single currency tested offers around the \u20a40.8995 level and was supported around the \u20a40.8930 level.<\/p>\n

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

GCI Financial Ltd (\u201dGCI\u201d) is a regulated securities and commodities trading firm, specializing in online Foreign Exchange (\u201dForex\u201d) 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 (\u201dCFDs\u201d) 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.<\/span><\/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.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By GCI Financial – The euro depreciated vis-\u00e0-vis the U.S. dollar today as the single currency tested bids around the US$ 1.2540 level and was capped…<\/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-699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699","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=699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}