Today's moves in Asia were dominated by the Euro gaining back territory lost over the past few weeks as buy stops were triggered despite a S&P credit watch put on Euro Zone member Portugal in anticipation of that country facing a possible downgrade. The EUR/USD began the session near the session lows of 1.3169, not far off from the one month lows of 1.3140 earlier in NY, and never looked back as we touched just above 1.3300 in late Asian trading. Many look to the lack of interest in the Dollar due to tomorrow's upcoming December Retail Sales data in NY (13:30 GMT) which everyone assumes will be bleak at best. Expect traders to fade this explosive move in the European single currency as the ECB's rate decision looms on the horizon. Many insiders feel that if the ECB does not make a severe cut we could see the Euro really get hammered. Against the Yen, the Euro made great gains as well, aided by rebounding Asian equities as the Yen came under pressure in all crosses.
EUR/JPY jumped from a 117.14 late NY low, to a 119.50 late Asian high as the Nikkei made gains in the tune of almost 1%. The British Pound found reprieve from a horrible trade deficit number yesterday to move from 1.4491 to just near 1.4620. GBP/JPY looked solid all day as well, driving from near 128.90 to near 131.20ish.
USD/JPY was more a victim of Yen selling than Dollar strength as the pair made gains from around 88.95 into the 89.80 ballpark. Talk of intervention and BoJ bids in the market helped to smoothen out the ride higher.
Upcoming Economic Data Releases (London Session):
| 1/14/2009 | 7:45 | FR | Current Account (EURO) | NOV | -5.0B | - - |
| 1/14/2009 | 7:50 | FR | Consumer Price Index (MoM) | DEC | -0.50% | -0.20% |
| 1/14/2009 | 7:50 | FR | Consumer Price Index (YoY) | DEC | 1.60% | 1.10% |
| 1/14/2009 | 7:50 | FR | CPI - EU Harmonised (MoM) | DEC | -0.50% | -0.30% |
| 1/14/2009 | 7:50 | FR | CPI - EU Harmonised (YoY) | DEC | 1.90% | 1.30% |
| 1/14/2009 | 8:15 | GE | GDP (Annual Growth Rate) | 31-Dec | 2.50% | 1.40% |
| 1/14/2009 | 8:15 | GE | Budget (Maastricht) (% of GDP) | 31-Dec | 0.00% | -0.10% |
| 1/14/2009 | 10:00 | EC | Euro-Zone Ind. Prod. sa (MoM) | NOV | -1.20% | -2.10% |
| 1/14/2009 | 10:00 | EC | Euro-Zone Ind. Prod. wda (YoY) | NOV | -5.30% | -6.00% |
