The US Dollar lost a little bit of its luster in Asia after making some solid gains in the US as President Obama's ''Mortgage Plan'' was unveiled to what was the equivalent of a ''golf clap'', but the Dollar made gains nonetheless across the board. With the Dollar remaining supported as a safe haven in these troubled times it seemed inevitable that profit takers would emerge, and that they did in Asia. The USD/JPY pair hit Asian Session highs in early trading at levels just near 93.80, and the pair softened from there, dipping 50 pips to the lows of the day just near 93.30. The Bank of Japan surprised no one by leaving the overnight rate unchanged at 0.10% and the unveiling of the Purchasing plan of corporate debt left most uninspired. Japan has had a rough week so far as uncertainty reigns supreme in the markets, helping many to believe the Dollar is the place to park your money at. EUR/JPY made some moves between 117.29 and 18.02 but pretty much ended the session within 10 pips of the starting point of 117.50.
The EUR/USD made some modest gains as well today, shaking off the stink of the eastern European banks, at least temporality, as it move from early lows of 1.2527, and pushed its way to a few pips under 1.2600. Supposedly talk of options at 1.2500 have come into play, and the downward path seems a likely one as news continues to seep out of the dire straights of Eastern Europe's banking system. Those tentacles may in fact be far reaching ones....
Be aware that tomorrow in the US there is pertinent data including, PPI, Initial Jobless Claims and the Philadelphia Fed.
Upcoming Economic Data Releases (London Session):
| 2/19/2009 | 7:15 | SZ | Trade Balance | JAN | 0.22B | - - |
| 2/19/2009 | 7:15 | SZ | Exports (MoM) | JAN | -13.30% | - - |
| 2/19/2009 | 7:15 | SZ | Imports (MoM) | JAN | -5.00% | - - |
| 2/19/2009 | 9:30 | UK | Public Finances (PSNCR) | JAN | 44.2B | -7.7B |
| 2/19/2009 | 9:30 | UK | Public Sector Net Borrowing | JAN | 14.9B | -7.0B |
| 2/19/2009 | 9:30 | UK | M4 Money Supply (MoM) | JAN P | 1.40% | 1.20% |
| 2/19/2009 | 9:30 | UK | M4 Money Supply (YoY) | JAN P | 16.10% | 15.70% |
| 2/19/2009 | 9:30 | GE | DIHK Trade Chambers Presents Spring Survey of 25,000 Companies | 19-Feb | ||
| 2/19/2009 | 10:00 | SZ | ZEW Survey (Expectations) | FEB | -66.7 | - - |
