With more and more signs pointing to the fact that the global economy is emerging from the economic crisis, traders continued to sell the dollar and buy risk in the Asian session. A positive day for equities and stronger than expected data in the US helped fuel optimism which has helped spill over into Asia as traders bought higher yielding assets at the expense of the US Dollar. Although overall the session tended to be a bit quieter than usual, the theme was pronounced as the greenback continued to lose ground on its way to replacing the yen in the carry trade.
EUR/USD fell short of breaking the NY session's yearly high of 1.4684 by a mere two pips, but otherwise the trading was confined to about a 30 pip range. GBP/USD was able to hit 1.6512 on a high, but shed 50 pips as the session wore on in anticipation of UK employment data. The real heroes of the day were the currencies from down under, the Aussie and Kiwi Dollars. AUD/USD posted a new weekly high of 0.8666 but failed to top last Friday's yearly high of 0.8674. The NZD/USD touched 0.7065 as a new weekly high as well, missing a yearly high set last week by about 20 pips. NZD/JPY pushed to over 64.30 and AUD/JPY reached over 78.90 on the risk buying.
The Yen strengthened versus the dollar as well, as the Yen strengthened to just under 90.80 for the session as Japan's new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama prepared to take office later in the day. As the new administration begins to take shape it will be of interest to see the stand it takes on a strengthening Yen and talk of intervention.
The London session brings UK employment and Euro Zone CPI while tomorrow's US session offers CPI as well as Industrial Production.
Upcoming Economic Data Releases (London Session) prior expected
| 9/16/2009 | 3:15 | SZ | Retail Sales (Real) (YoY) | JUL | 0.90% | 0.70% |
| 9/16/2009 | 3:30 | EC | EU's Almunia Speaks at Eurostat National Accounts Conference | 16-Sep | ||
| 9/16/2009 | 4:20 | EC | ECB's Gonzalez-Paramo at Eurostat National Accounts Conference | 16-Sep | ||
| 9/16/2009 | 4:30 | UK | Claimant Count Rate | AUG | 4.90% | 5.00% |
| 9/16/2009 | 4:30 | UK | Jobless Claims Change | AUG | 24.9K | 25.0K |
| 9/16/2009 | 4:30 | UK | Avg Earnings inc bonus 3M/YoY | JUL | 2.50% | 1.90% |
| 9/16/2009 | 4:30 | UK | Avg Earnings ex bonus 3M/YoY | JUL | 2.50% | 2.30% |
| 9/16/2009 | 4:30 | UK | ILO Unemployment Rate (3mths) | JUL | 7.80% | 8.00% |
| 9/16/2009 | 4:30 | UK | Manu.Unit Wage Cost (3Ms/YoY) | JUL | 6.60% | - - |
| 9/16/2009 | 5:00 | SZ | ZEW Survey (Expectations) | SEP | 18.6 | - - |
| 9/16/2009 | 5:00 | EC | Euro-Zone CPI (MoM) | AUG | -0.70% | 0.30% |
| 9/16/2009 | 5:00 | EC | Euro-Zone CPI (YoY) | AUG | -0.20% | -0.20% |
| 9/16/2009 | 5:00 | EC | Euro-Zone CPI (YoY) | AUG | 1.30% | 1.20% |
