The first story of the day happened in New Zealand, where the RBNZ surprised many by only cutting its interest rate by 50 basis points as opposed to the widely expected cut of 75 basis points. Regardless, the cut still brought the rate to a record low of 3.00%, but those 25 basis points that were spared fueled buyers of NZD/USD, who bought the pair in a flurry from 05052 to .5120 in a quick minute. The Kiwi dollar eventually peaked at 0.5143 and looked as if it had the legs to follow through. All indications were that the RBNZ would ease up on its rate cutting cycle in the future to help stabilize the currency. Nearby in Australia, the Aussie Dollar was boosted by better than expected employment data, as employment rose by 1.8K as opposed to what most expected a loss of 20K. The AUD/USD popped up to 0.6522 after dwelling in a 0.6467 cellar prior to the data. The elation down under was short lived though as the pair eventually headed south to close out the session near 0.6480.
The USD/JPY pair was heavy all day after a short lived stay at the 97.45 area, the pair faced strong selling to just under 96.00 as a low. The revised GDP for Japan showed a 3.2% decline as opposed to the earlier 3.3% decline for the last 3 months of the year, but that wasn't the only spark to Yen buying, as many traders pointed to technical indicators and short term profit taking as other important factors. A small bounce in late Asia brought the pair back to 96.35, but that bounce could be fleeting. EUR/JPY was tied to the USD/JPY move and collapsed from 125.10 to just a touch under 123.40 as stops triggered all the way down as risk aversion seemed to ease a bit.
EUR/USD was sluggish as it popped over and fell back under the 1.2850 level all session, but looked to keep its gains as it hit an apex of 1.2871 which represented a solid two week high. Euro Zone PPI is the larger of a slew of data to be released later in the European Session.
Upcoming Economic Data Releases (London Session):
| 3/12/2009 | 7:45 | FR | Non-Farm Payrolls (QoQ) | 4Q F | -0.60% | - - |
| 3/12/2009 | 7:45 | FR | Consumer Price Index (YoY) | FEB | 0.70% | 0.80% |
| 3/12/2009 | 7:45 | FR | Consumer Price Index (MoM) | FEB | -0.40% | 0.20% |
| 3/12/2009 | 7:45 | FR | CPI - EU Harmonised (MoM) | FEB | -0.40% | 0.30% |
| 3/12/2009 | 7:45 | FR | CPI - EU Harmonised (YoY) | FEB | 0.80% | 0.80% |
| 3/12/2009 | 7:45 | FR | CPI Ex Tobacco Index | FEB | 117.13 | 117.51 |
| 3/12/2009 | 9:30 | UK | Bank of England Releases Quarterly Inflation Attitudes Survey | 12-Mar | ||
| 3/12/2009 | 10:00 | GE | Germany's IfW Economic Institute Presents New Forecasts | 12-Mar | ||
| 3/12/2009 | 10:00 | EC | Euro-Zone PPI (YoY) | JAN | 1.80% | 0.50% |
| 3/12/2009 | 10:00 | EC | Euro-Zone PPI (MoM) | JAN | -1.30% | -0.20% |
| 3/12/2009 | 11:00 | GE | Industrial Prod. YoY (nsa wda) | JAN | -12.00% | -15.50% |
| 3/12/2009 | 11:00 | GE | Industrial Production MoM (sa) | JAN | -4.60% | -3.00% |
| 3/12/2009 | SZ | SNB 3-Month Libor Target Rate | 12-Mar | 0.50% | 0.25% |
