Market Review 06/02/2013

Asian and European trading sessions:

Euro: The euro tried to rise against its rivals on news that the European Central Bank is not concerned about the sharp rise of the euro currency. However, the demand for the currency was limited as many market participants are waiting for the meeting of the European Central Bank, which will be held tomorrow. The EUR / USD pair strengthened to the level of $ 1.3595 during the Asian session then fell sharply reaching its one-week low of $1.3512 on the next following session.

U.S. Dollar: The dollar index continued to grow also today after slight yesterday’s decrease. It updated it’s recent high reaching the 79.9 mark.

British Pound: The pound fluctuated within a narrow range of $ 1.5630-75 against the dollar during the both sessions. The published today’s data showed that the Halifax house price in Britain registered in January its first annual increase since October 2010, rising by 1.3%. However, despite an improvement of house market situation, the value of this indicator was below analysts' expectations of 1.6 %. Also, the Halifax Plc House Prices on a monthly basis fell by 0.2% more than it was expected by the estimates of experts.

Japanese Yen: The yen fell against the dollar to Y94.05 level for the first time since May 2010 on the background of the statement of Governor of the Bank of Japan, Masaaki Shirakawa who announced his early retirement thus increased expectations of further easing of the central bank. The USD / JPY pair during the European session traded in a narrow range, demonstrating a slight decrease due to the strong resistance which was provided by the Y94.00 level.

Australian dollar: The Australian dollar fell against most currencies after the publication of negative data on retail sales of the country. According to statistics, the volume of retail sales in Australia fell in December by 0.2 % compared to the previous month with expectations of growth by 0.3%.

American trading session:

Euro: The single currency fell against almost all major currencies amid speculations that the Prime Minister of Spain, Mariano Rajoy may resign on the background of recent corruption scandal and the expectations of investors on negative results of the report of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA for 2008 and 2009 years. The EUR / USD pair fell to the lows of $ 1.3494 during the session.

Canadian dollar: The Canadian dollar rose after data showed that the January’s Ivey PMI improved to 58.9 from 52.8 versus forecasted 53.9. The USD /CAD couple fell to $0.9958 area.

Gold: Today, the value of gold held within yesterday's range as the market is still waiting for the European Central Bank statement after the meeting on Thursday. April futures price of gold finished at 1677.40 dollars an ounce level on COMEX.

Oil: After the U.S. Department of Energy reported an increase in oil inventories last week, the March futures price of WTI in trading in New York strengthened sharply to 96.99 dollars a barrel rebounding from yesterday’s deep low levels.

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