The US Dollar slipped lower in Asia today as traders reacted to the Federal Reserve's assessment that the worse may be over for the US Economy. As traders digested the latest news from the FOMC, they found enough reasoning to buy back into the riskier currencies, although the action was orderly today as opposed to the dynamic spikes witnessed earlier in the day. The Federal Reserve left US rates unchanged and moved to phase out of the current emergency liquidity measure of buying US Treasuries sometime in October, leading some to believe that rate hikes might not be much further down the road from there. US stocks welcomed the news, ending the day higher, and that enthusiasm carried over to Asia as equities look firmer heading into the close.
The EUR/USD spent the day drifting higher all session, capping a 50+ pip move higher in the 1.4233 area, not too short of the earlier NY high of 1.4247. The British Pound began the day against the dollar at lows of 1.6480 and as of this writing was pushing through highs near 1.6515. The Aussie Dollar benefited from traders looking for a higher yielding currency as the AUD/USD continued its quest higher as it hit an apex of 0.8360 in this session. AUD/USD has made strong gains from 0.8180 lows of less than 24 hours ago.
The Yen moves were lackluster today, with USD/JPY drifting lower to 95.80 after beginning the day above the 96.20 level. The Yen crosses did not budge in reaction to the higher stocks, and were left mostly unchanged for the day. EUR/JPY was stuck in a less than 70 pip range near 136.50 for the best part of the day.
From here, most investors will now seek out the remaining US data to look for more clues as to the health of the economy. The end of the week brings US Retail Sales and Unemployment Claims tomorrow and CPI on Friday. Closer to the Asian markets, tomorrow ends the week with New Zealand Retail Sales as well as RBA Governor Glenn Stevens speaking about monetary policy in Sydney.
Upcoming Economic Data Releases (London Session) prior expected
| 8/13/2009 | 6:00 | GE | GDP s.a. (QOQ) | 2Q P | - - | -0.20% |
| 8/13/2009 | 6:00 | GE | GDP wda (YoY) | 2Q P | - - | -6.60% |
| 8/13/2009 | 6:00 | GE | GDP nsa (YoY) | 2Q P | -6.70% | -7.60% |
| 8/13/2009 | 6:45 | FR | Gross Domestic Product (QoQ) | 2Q P | -1.20% | - - |
| 8/13/2009 | 6:45 | FR | Gross Domestic Product (YoY) | 2Q P | -3.20% | - - |
| 8/13/2009 | 7:15 | SZ | Producer & Import Prices (MoM) | JUL | 0.00% | 0.10% |
| 8/13/2009 | 7:15 | SZ | Producer & Import Prices (YoY) | JUL | 0.00% | -5.80% |
| 8/13/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-Zone GDP s.a. (QoQ) | 2Q A | -2.50% | -0.50% |
| 8/13/2009 | 9:00 | EC | Euro-Zone GDP s.a. (QoQ) | 2Q A | -4.90% | -5.10% |
