The US Dollar began the new week firmer after statements made by China on Friday called the greenback's global reserve status into question adding to the currency's slide last week. The start of the week in Asia saw the Dollar make up some of the ground that was lost on Friday, with the session seeing the buck strengthen across the board.
EUR/USD saw an early pop to the day's high near 1.4078, but from there the slide began, taking the pair about 75 pips lower to just over the 1.4000 figure. A reversal later after the lunch break took about 25 pips away from that move as China and Brazil's central banks announced that they were working on a system of currency exchange between the two countries that would bypass the global reserve currency which of course is the mighty US dollar. The same pattern seen in the EUR/USD was followed by the British Pound, as it dropped about 70 pips from the high to just near the 1.650 support level and subsequently bounced about 30 pips heading into London trading. As could be expected, the higher yielding Aussie and Kiwi dollars were both sold against the buck to the tune of about 75 pips and 50 pips respectfully.
USD/JPY pushed higher, with poor retail sales and industrial production adding to the Yen's weakness as the pair drove from 95.15 lows to just under 95.60 for the day. Many traders who follow the Yen are looking ahead to the Japanese Tankan Survey results that will be released on Wednesday and help to provide a good barometer on the state of Japan's industry.
EUR/JPY looked to shed about 20 pips for the day, as the pair was directionless amidst mixed equity markets and no real data to trade on. Plenty of data will present itself as the week progresses, with US employment numbers setting up to be the big event on Thursday.
Upcoming Economic Data Releases (London Session) prior expected
| 6/29/2009 | 8:30 | UK | Net Consumer Credit | MAY | 0.3B | 0.3B |
| 6/29/2009 | 8:30 | UK | Net Lending Sec. on Dwellings | MAY | 1.0B | 1.0B |
| 6/29/2009 | 8:30 | UK | Mortgage Approvals | MAY | 43.2K | 46.0K |
| 6/29/2009 | 8:30 | UK | M4 Money Supply (MoM) | MAY F | 0.20% | - - |
| 6/29/2009 | 8:30 | UK | M4 Money Supply (YoY) | MAY F | 16.60% | - - |
| 6/29/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Business Climate Indicator | JUN | -3.17 | -3 |
| 6/29/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-Zone Consumer Confidence | JUN | -31 | -30 |
| 6/29/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-Zone Economic Confidence | JUN | 69.3 | 71 |
| 6/29/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-Zone Indust. Confidence | JUN | -34 | -32 |
| 6/29/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-zone Services Confidence | JUN | -23 | -23 |
