The Australian Dollar had an eventful session today and the reasons were two-fold. First up, the Australian Government announced a stimulus package of A$42 Billion that would help rebuild infrastructure and add jobs and hopefully spark growth down under. This announcement bode well for Aussie equities and the Australian Dollar, both of which moved higher on the news. AUD/USD popped from 0.6330ish to the 0.6370 region. The second prong of the good news Down Under was the RBA rate cut of 100 basis points, to 3.25%, although widely expected in the market, traders looked at the move as proactive, and the AUD/USD drove from 0.6350ish to levels topping out just under 0.6420. The 3.25% rate in Australia is its lowest since 1964. As expected, the AUDNZD pair made some strong moves, notably, from lows near 1.2460 to highs over 1.2620 in less than an hour.
In another interesting move, the Yen was sold today as the BoJ announced it would buy up to 1 trillion Yen worth of embattled financial shares. USD/JPY hit highs of 89.96 on the news, but the joy was short lived as the pair eventually fell back to 89.50 levels. Yen crosses were initially higher, EUR/JPY jumping from lows near 114.40 to highs over 116.00, and then back to the 114.80 area as the session came to a close and the Nikkei turned red.
The Euro made gains in Asia on the coat tails of the Aussie and crosses, peaking above 1.2910, but as the EUR/JPY sagged, so did the EUR/USD. 1.2840 was the level as of this writing. Be aware of German Retail Sales later in the London session, and keep in mind that the US ''Stimulus Package II'' will be put to the Senate tomorrow, sink or swim, that will in fact drive the markets.
Upcoming Economic Data Releases (London Session):
| 2/3/2009 | 7:00 | GE | Retail Sales (MoM) | DEC | 0.70% | 0.50% |
| 2/3/2009 | 7:00 | GE | Retail Sales (YoY) | DEC | -3.00% | 0.50% |
| 2/3/2009 | 7:15 | SZ | Trade Balance | DEC | 2.15B | - - |
| 2/3/2009 | 7:15 | SZ | Exports (MoM) | DEC | 4.90% | - - |
| 2/3/2009 | 7:15 | SZ | Imports (MoM) | DEC | 2.30% | - - |
| 2/3/2009 | 9:30 | UK | PMI Construction | JAN | 29.3 | 29 |
| 2/3/2009 | 10:00 | EC | Euro-Zone PPI (YoY) | DEC | 3.30% | 2.10% |
| 2/3/2009 | 10:00 | EC | Euro-Zone PPI (MoM) | DEC | -1.90% | -1.20% |
