Yen Gains as Officials Back Down from Further Easing 16 January 2013

by Jonathan Millet
(London)

DOLLAR

USD closes lower on Taipei

The US dollar fell against the New Taiwan dollar, as it went down by NT$0.002 to close at the NT$29.056 level as in the backdrop of central bank buying, the greenback recouped its previous losses significantly. The US currency had initially opened at the NT$29.060 mark and later went on to move between the NT$28.941 and NT$29.069 levels while the total turnover recorded during the entire season was calculated to be approximately 664 million US dollars during the session.

The benchmark that was weighed upon the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed lower by approximately 0.75 percent at 7,765.02 points. Experts were seen judging from the movement of the USD that the central bank would probably be trying to keep the level above the NT$29.00 mark in the short term.

EURO

Weaker Sterling against Euro, UK worries makes for vulnerability

The sterling seemed to edge away from its almost nine and a half month low level against the euro this Tuesday as many of the traders in global markets seemed to have taken advantage from the euro’s most recent gains, but still seemed to remain vulnerable to selling over some concerns of a fragile British economy. According to data reports the Annual CPI inflation continued to stand still at 2.7 percent in the month of December as it was predicted to be by the Bank of England around the 2.0% mark. However, the euro was down by approximately 0.1 percent to 83.12 pence while continuing to stay away from its previous peak of 83.26 pence (which was its strongest level since the month of April). Many experts are of the opinion that the euro might be facing some resistance at 83.33 pence which is equal to about 1.20 euros for every pound.

YEN

Minster warns weakness, Yen still firm

The Japanese yen made a rebound from its almost two and a half year low against its US counterpart, the USD, as investors started taking profits on bets against the JPY as a minister warned every one of the possible disadvantages of excessive weakening of the currency.

Support was cited upon by traders at 88.20 yen which is the dollar’s 200 hour moving average, while the stop loss was set at around 89.50 yen. Many experts are of the opinion that the Japanese yen has been over exerted and so the pull back is no longer a surprise to them.

All that is now left to see is that if the pullback continues or the investors in the market go on for an even shorter yen. The central bank has been continuously pressurized by the newly elected PM Shinzo Abe to adopt a two percent inflation target in order to deal with deflation for once and for all. The next policy meeting has been scheduled to take place on 21 January.

CRUDE OIL

Forecasts: Increased US stockpiles

The weekly data concerned with the oil inventories are most likely to come with a rise in the number of stockpiles in the last week while many operations have been cut modestly by refiners. As seen by the estimates released by Dow Jones Newswire taken from about fourteen analysts, the inventories in the Unites States’ Crude oil rose by approximately two million barrels last week. Out of the fourteen analysts, thirteen were of the opinion that the inventories are expected to increase.

As for the estimates, it is calculated that the range would be from a drop of 1.5 barrels to an increase in 3.8 million.

STOCKS

Apple drags on, stocks inch up

The S&P and the Dow moved on to a higher turf on Tuesday after retail data, much stronger than what had been expected, although Apple, the heavyweight in tech supplies kept dragging the market for a third consecutive day. Its shares went on to decline by about three percent to $485.92.

Retail stocks on the other hand advanced as a government report was released that showed a better than expected rise in sales on the retail front.

Jonathan Millet Chief Editor of ForexMinute.com

Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Jonathan from ForexMinute.com updates.

Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.