Market Brief
The Usd was mixed in the Asian session, as markets look uncertain of a direction. The EurUsd traded between 1.3440 and 1.3498, while the UsdJpy weakened to 94.60 in early trading before trading up to 94.45, as Europe opened. Economic data last week was mixed at best, with data probably confirming that economic contraction has bottomed out, yet meaningful recovery should not be expected in the near term. German GDP, which signaled a -3.8% decline in activity for the first three months of 2009, took the wind out of the Eur sails. Currently, the economic forecasts reflected in market pricing have overshot true conditions and a correction is highly likely. Following Europe, the US equity futures are pointing toward a negative open. In Japan, Moody’s unified Japan's ratings to Aa2, downgrading foreign currency JGB ratings from AAA but upgrading local currency ratings from Aa3. While in economic data Japanese consumer confidence came in slightly better than expectations at 33.2 vs. 31.2 exp and household consumer confidence also surprised to the upside 32.4 vs. 32.0 exp. The SNB has still not commented on Friday's spectacular EURCHF rally. In addition, official rhetoric recently showed the SNB moved beyond the usual threats of currency intervention and chose to provide more specifics on its recent operations, such as the foray into covered bonds.
With a light calendar today in Europe and the US, markets will be debating the aspects of the global recovery and watching equity markets for direction.
| Global Indexes | Current Level | % Change |
| Nikkei 225 Index | 9,038.69 | -2.44 |
| Hang Seng Index | 17,022.91 | 1.38 |
| Shanghai Index | 2,652.78 | 0.28 |
| FTSE 100 Index | 4,350.30 | 0.05 |
| DAX Index | 4,694.68 | -0.9 |
| SMI Index | 5,323.15 | -0.51 |
| DJIA futures | 8,234.00 | -0.39 |
| World Markets | Current Level | % Change |
| Gold | 929.75 | -0.22 |
| Silver | 13.94 | -0.37 |
| VIX | 33.12 | 5.57 |
| Crude wti | 56.76 | 0.74 |
| USD Index | 83.05 | 0.11 |
| Todays Calender | Estimates | Previous | Country / GMT |
| Trade balance, bn (sa) Mar | -- | -4 | EUR / 9.00 |
| NAHB housing market, index May | 16 | 14 | USD / 17.00 |
| Industrial production, % y/y Mar | -8.3 | -13.2 | MXN / 19.30 |
Currency Tech
AUDUSD
R 3: 0.8097
R 2: 0.7740
R 1: 0.7620
CURRENT: 0.7521
S 1: 0.7337
S 2: 0.7233
S 3: 0.7050
EURJPY
R 3: 133.60
R 2: 132.40
R 1: 131.15
CURRENT: 128.32
S 1: 126.63
S 2: 124.40
S 3: 122.13
USDSGD
R 3: 1.4880
R 2: 1.4845
R 1: 1.4800
CURRENT: 1.4711
S 1: 1.4623
S 2: 1.4500
S 3: 1.4446
- S: Strong, M: Minor, T: Trendline, K: Keylevel, P: Pivot
