Market Review 07/02/2013

Asian and European trading sessions:

Euro: The Euro fell slightly against its rivals during the Asian session in anticipation of the ECB decision regarding the interest rate in Eurozone and the speech of Mario Draghi about the whole economic situation in region. Accordingly to analysts’ predictions the ECB will not change interest rates keeping it for the seventh consecutive month at 0.75 % per annum as well as the general course of monetary policy and Mr.Dragi will pay particular attention to the continuing economic weakness of the euro zone. The EUR / USD pair fell to $ 1.3504 level.

British Pound: The GBP / USD pair was trading slightly down at the lows of $ 1.5646 level during the Asian session the. The pair done a monster move up to the area of $ 1.5770 during the European session, which was associated with the statements of Mark Carney, who in the near future is going to led the Bank of England. According to his statements, the central bank should close unconventional policies, maintain the integrity of the sterling, and be more flexible with regard to inflation targeting.

Japanese Yen: The yen rose on falling Asian stock markets, which led to increased demand for safe haven assets. The USD / JPY pair fell to the previous day's low of Y93.30 during the Asian session and continued to the new low of Y93.09 at the European one.

New Zealand dollar: The New Zealand dollar fell against most major currencies after the publication of the weak data on employment in New Zealand. The data adjusted for seasonal variations in the 4th quarter recorded fall by 1.0 % compared with the previous quarter and decreased by 1.4% compared with the same period last year. Accordingly the forecasts of economists, employment should have been grown by 0.4% compared with the previous quarter and by 0.3 % compared to the same period of the previous year.

American trading session:

U.S. Dollar: The U.S. dollar got support by the published today economic statistics for U.S. country, which disappointed many investors. Accordingly preliminary data, the labor productivity in the fourth quarter of 2012 decreased by 2.0 % after rising 2.9% in the third quarter. Also, the last week’s number of initial claims for unemployment benefits amounted to 366K, while the market had expected it at 360K.

Euro: The euro suffered nasty spill falling more than 200 points against the dollar after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said that the recent strengthening of the currency raised fears that inflation in Eurozone will slow down. He mentioned, also, that the forecast showed the slowdown in inflation below 2% in the coming months.

British Pound: The pound was supported by the announced decision of the Bank of England to leave key interest rate and keep the target level of bond-buying program unchanged, saying that while the UK economy showed willingness to slow growth, however this growth may be influenced by the Eurozone’s problems.

Gold: The April futures price of gold on COMEX today fell to 1662.40 dollars an ounce, and then rose to 1682.90 after comments from ECB President Mr.Draghi and the release of the U.S. economic statistics.

Oil: The Oil fell in New York trading after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said that the strength of the euro could hamper economic recovery, which in turn will reduce the demand for fuel. The March futures price of WTI fell to 95.53 dollars a barrel.

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