The session in Asia was characterized by the yen as it continued to slip off of its highs it had visited only 24 hours ago in yesterday's dynamic buying spree. Japan's Finance Minister Fujii continued his one man show as he sparked yen selling with subtle hints at intervention and then pulled the rug out from under the move by stating that the current moves in the currency markets were within reason. The Bank of Japan last intervened in the FX markets in 2004, and many traders don't think the BOJ will feel the heat until the 85.00 yen levels.
Even with Finance Minister Fujii singing his tune in the background, the USD/JPY pair was able to push higher by a good 65 or so pips for the day as it broke the 90.20 mark before a quick wave of sellers took the pair back below the figure as London looked to begin its day. All the yen crosses enjoyed moves higher on positive equities and profit taking. GBP/JPY led the way once again, this time on the way up as it posted a move just shy of 130 pips as it broke the 143.50 plateau. EUR/JPY drove higher to hit 131.70.
The Australian Dollar benefitted from printed comments from a RBA watcher that basically said the RBA will add a total of 50 basis points to the currently low 3.0% overnight rate by years end. The theory is for a 0.25 hike November and the same in December. As could be expected, this gave the Aussie Dollar a nice shot in the arm as it made gains at the expense of the dollar, yen and kiwi dollars. The AUD/USD was about 30 pips away from hitting last weeks 0.8788 high.
With risk appetite reentering the markets late in the day, the GBP/USD was able to punch through the 1.5950 levels ahead of some important UK data due up later including Current Account and Final GDP. And even with ECB President Trichet taking up a strong US Dollar the EUR/USD ended the session higher, after an open near 1.4620 and a ride that hit 1.4585 below and 1.4645 up top before exiting the day near 1.4630. Speaking of the dollar, tomorrow's US consumer confidence could be key in setting the tone for the much maligned greenback.
| 9/29/2009 | 600 | GE | Import Price Index (MoM) | AUG | -0.90% | 0.70% |
| 9/29/2009 | 600 | GE | Import Price Index (YoY) | AUG | -12.60% | -11.40% |
| 9/29/2009 | 830 | UK | GDP (QoQ) | 2Q F | -0.70% | -0.60% |
| 9/29/2009 | 830 | UK | GDP (YoY) | 2Q F | -5.50% | -5.40% |
| 9/29/2009 | 830 | UK | Current Account (BP) | 2Q | -8.5B | -7.7B |
| 9/29/2009 | 830 | UK | Net Consumer Credit | AUG | -0.2B | 0.0B |
| 9/29/2009 | 830 | UK | Net Lending Sec. on Dwellings | AUG | -0.4B | 0.2B |
| 9/29/2009 | 830 | UK | Mortgage Approvals | AUG | 50.1K | 51.5K |
| 9/29/2009 | 830 | UK | M4 Money Supply (MoM) | AUG F | 0.10% | - - |
| 9/29/2009 | 830 | UK | M4 Money Supply (YoY) | AUG F | 12.60% | - - |
| 9/29/2009 | 900 | EC | Business Climate Indicator | SEP | -2.21 | -1.92 |
| 9/29/2009 | 900 | EC | Euro-Zone Consumer Confidence | SEP | -22 | -21 |
| 9/29/2009 | 900 | EC | Euro-Zone Economic Confidence | SEP | 80.6 | 82.7 |
| 9/29/2009 | 900 | EC | Euro-Zone Indust. Confidence | SEP | -26 | -24 |
| 9/29/2009 | 900 | EC | Euro-zone Services Confidence | SEP | -11 | -9 |
| 9/29/2009 | 900 | EC | EU's Juncker Speaks at EU Parliament's Economic Committee | 29-Sep | ||
| 9/29/2009 | 1000 | UK | U.K. CBI September Distributive Trades | 27-Sep |
