Euro Tumbles As Moody Downgrades Portugal To Junk | July 6, 2011

XAUUSD

Gold rose 2% overnight to settle at 1,512 this morning, the biggest climb in over five weeks

Australian stocks are set for a reasonably flat open this morning after commodities were strong but US stocks were small down on Tuesday, the Dow finished down 12.90 points at 12569.8. The S&P was off 1.79 points to close at 1337.88.

The EURUSD traded 100 points lower overnight to settle at 1.4420 after trading as low as 1.4397,  ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Portugal to “junk” status which has really put a dampening effect on the optimism that investors were feeling after last week’s positive news regarding the Greek debt crisis. Moody’s also said that banks that roll over Greek debt may face impairment charges and S&P said a French plan may put Greece in “selective default.”

The Swiss franc rose against all major currencies overnight as another wave of doubt hit investors that the proposed plan to save Greece from a debt default might not be as clear cut as initially thought. The EURCHF dropped from a high of 1.2240 to a low of 1.2100.

Gold (see the above chart) rose 2% overnight to settle at 1,512 this morning, the biggest climb in over five weeks as Moody’s Investors Service announced that the credit outlook for China’s banks is deteriorating which led to investors scrambling for the precious metal.

WTI Oil climbed to its highest price in over three weeks to settle at 96.91 this morning as data showed orders placed with US factories increased by 0.8% in May which indicates that the manufacturing industry is ramping up.

INDICES
  Last Traded
SPI 200

4598

S&P500 Index

1337.32

Dow Jones Indus. Avg

12522

FTSE 100 Index

5988

COMMODITIES
 

Last Traded

Gold

1513.2

Oil (Nymex)

97.03

CURRENCIES
 

Last Traded

AUDUSD

1.0690

EURUSD

1.4426

GBPUSD

1.6059

USDJPY

81.12

US Rally As Regulators Move To Safeguard Global Banking System | June 28, 2011

EURUSD

The EURUSD has continued to rally from yesterday's lows of 1.4104 to finish the US session above the 1.43 level

The Australian equity market is expected to gap higher this morning after the US stocks rallied for the first time in four sessions Monday evening as financial stocks jumped on banking capital requirements being less onerous than expected. The Dow finished up 108 points at 12043 while the S&P500 index rose 11.75 points to 1280.10.

The EURUSD (see above chart) has continued to rally from yesterday’s lows of 1.4104 to finish the US session above the 1.43 level on the back of hopes that the austerity plan could pass in the Greek parliament later this week. Investors seem to be upbeat about the proposed broad plan with the EU guaranteeing to roll over the Greek debt at expiry in 2014.

The AUDUSD bounced off an overnight low of 1.0392 which was weakest level against the US in over two months as investors consider the potential for an unwinding of at least some of the central bank’s recent tightening.

Gold declined $4.50 on Monday morning to close below $1,500 for the first time in over one month as the recent gains in the US dollar eroded the demand for the metal. A survey conducted by UBS AG saw that sovereign institutions expected Gold to be the best performing asset for the rest of the year.

WTI Oil dropped to a low 89.65, this is the lowest level in more than four months as US data showed that consumer spending had declined last month and after the International Energy Agency said it’s prepared to release more crude from stockpiles.

INDICES
 

Last Traded

SPI 200

4490

S&P500 Index

1278.50

Dow Jones Indus. Avg

12012

FTSE 100 Index

5708

COMMODITIES
 

Last Traded

Gold

1498.80

Oil (Nymex)

91.32

CURRENCIES
 

Last Traded

AUDUSD

1.0463

EURUSD

1.4315

GBPUSD

1.5988

USDJPY

80.83

No Sign Of Stimulus From Bernanke | June 8, 2011

USDCHF

Swiss Fran was the most underperformed currency as it fell across the board on the back of flat CPI

Previous day weakness was followed through to overnight after Ben Bernanke moronic speech of stating nothing but the obvious facts. Bernanke admitted that US is slowing down but was muted on the topic of further stimulus, sending the market to have a sell off. US fell moderately across the board with SP500 index down 0.1% and Dow traded relatively flat by session end at -0.04%. The weak sentiment will continue until some structural changes are made or at least provide some intention of the government policy going forward. The feds will need to be cleared of whether there will be a QE3 or some sort of stimulus plan to provide some lights to the market. Lack of communication will see the market start to unwind, especially of all the QE trades.

Swiss Franc was the most underperformed currency as it fell across the board on the back of flat CPI came in unchanged at 0%, which is higher than expected at -0.1%. CHF depreciated over 1.1% to 1.1918 against the dollar. The weakness was further amplified as it is not in favour of the debt rollover out of Greece.

EURUSD initially fell during the Bernanke’s speech, however, found its inflexion point short after as it marched north and trading just short of 1.47. Also, GBPUSD tracked sideway and was muted throughout the session after an over 1% gain made of the open.

AUDUSD back above 1.07 as it followed the bullish EUR overnight. Moreover, there seems to be an obvious consolidation within a 50 points range around this level. NZDUSD looks to be weak on Asian open as it faces some selling pressure, a switch of risk appetite from the Kiwi holders.

INDICES  
  Last Traded Change %
SPI 200

4566.3

-0.0.6

S&P500 Index

1284.94

-0.1

Dow Jones Indus. Avg

12070.81

-0.16

FTSE 100 Index

5864.65

0.0.3

COMMODITIES
  Last Traded Change %
Gold

1543.3

unch

Oil (Nymex)

99.69

0.61

CURRENCIES
  Last Traded Change %
AUDUSD

1.0711

-0.01

EURUSD

1.4683

-0.0.6

GBPUSD

1.6441

-0.04

USDJPY

80.25

-0.09