Forex Trading News
Dollar, Euro, Pound & Yen

00:12 Tuesday 6 July, 2010

21:26 Monday 5 July, 2010

When the stock market pulled back 5 percent in early May, it was no big deal. When the drop hit 7 percent, then 10 percent, it was just a normal correction in a bull market run.

But now that the drop from the most recent high has hit more than 16 percent and is nearing 20-percent-drop bear status...well, it's getting harder and harder to put a happy face on a market that appears to be in full retreat.

"We're on the edge of something that's tolerable," says Uri Landesman, president at Platinum Partners hedge fund in New York. "Any more and you're really running into a worry that it could be more than just a traditional-level pullback."

21:22 Monday 5 July, 2010

t's fairly typical that when U. S. investors talk about Japan they refer to low growth and a stock market that peaked 20 years ago -- in other words, an unappealing target. But there are signs that the world's second-largest economy may be worth another look.

Japan-focused mutual funds are among the best international performers so far this year -- though that's not saying much given the worldwide fall in stocks so far in 2010. And while Japan funds did poorly in the second quarter, there are signs that, among developed countries at least, Japan could be a top performer in the future.

"During the first half, the Japanese economy performed better than our optimistic projection at the end of 2009 driven by exports to Asia," wrote analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in a research note in mid-June. "After May when the financial instability spread to the outside of Europe, the uncertainty for the future increased but we stick to our "limited damage scenario.""

21:13 Monday 5 July, 2010

The euro snapped three days of gains and bonds rose after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet urged “austerity” measures to contain budget deficits. European stocks were little changed.

The euro weakened 0.4 percent to $1.2522 at 12:26 p.m. in London. The 10-year bund yield fell three basis points to 2.55 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index drifted between advances and declines, while futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added less than 0.1 percent as markets in the U.S. were closed for a public holiday. Copper increased for a second day.

Trichet said yesterday he has “no problem with austerity, rigor” as “good budgetary management,” following reports last week that showed U.S. payrolls dropped for the first time this year and factory orders slumped. China’s Premier Wen Jiabao said on July 3 policy makers face increasing “dilemmas” and the government will ensure “steady and relatively fast” growth.

“The outlook for growth around the world is certainly not as optimistic as it was a few months ago,” said Toby Hassall, a commodity analyst at CWA Global Markets Pty in Sydney. “There will be the longer-term participants in the market who are viewing this decline in price as a good time to get long.”

18:00 Monday 5 July, 2010

The euro rally may stretch out further, particularly if rhetoric out of the ECB this week is positive, says Jim Vrondas, manager of corporate business at OzForex. He shares his outlook on the forex markets with CNBC's Chloe Cho.

17:57 Monday 5 July, 2010

European shares were trading around the flat line on Monday, as deal news and speculation helped offset gloom about the global economy.

The index ended flat on Friday, after data showed an as-expected drop in U.S. nonfarm jobs for June; the index posted a weekly loss of 4.5%.

"Friday's U.S. employment release may not have plumbed the depths feared in the wake of the rest of last week's data, but the payrolls data did little to dispel the growing conviction among investors that the pace of global recovery is faltering," said Ian Williams, strategist at Altium Securities.

17:51 Monday 5 July, 2010

China’s auto sales grew at a slower pace in June and a services-industry index slid to a 15-month low, adding to signs that the economy leading the world recovery is cooling.

Passenger-car purchases rose 10.9 percent from a year earlier, down from May’s 25 percent gain, the China Automotive Technology & Research Center said today. The services-industry measure fell to 55.6 from 56.4, HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said in an e-mailed statement.

Today’s data adds to weaker numbers in June for manufacturing indexes and a second measure of the services industry after the government cracked down on property speculation and as the effects of stimulus measures fade. A slowing economy could lead officials to delay returning to pre- crisis policies.

“It looks like growth will slow to 8 percent in the fourth quarter of this year with risks on the downside,” said Paul Cavey, an economist with Macquarie Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong. “The government will be worried” at that point and may loosen policies, he added.

13:01 Monday 5 July, 2010

The euro declined from near its strongest level in six weeks amid speculation the sovereign debt crisis in Europe will force the region’s central bank to keep interest rates at a record low.

The dollar traded near a seven-month low against the yen before a report this week that economists said will show U.S. service industries expanded at a slower pace. The European Central Bank will leave rates unchanged when policy makers meet on July 8, according to a Bloomberg News survey, as efforts to trim budget shortfalls in the region damp growth prospects.

“The ECB will be forced into a lower-for-longer stance on its monetary policy,” said Sue Trinh, a senior currency strategist in Hong Kong at Royal Bank of Canada. “We are still very bearish on the euro and expect a move towards $1.15 by the end of the year.”

12:16 Monday 5 July, 2010

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.’s valuation discount to its closest rivals has halved in seven trading days, making the world’s biggest initial public offering in almost four years less appealing to investors.

Shares in the Hong Kong part of Agricultural Bank’s IPO are valued at an average 5.3 percent less than its three biggest competitors as measured by book value, based on the top end of the IPO price range and data compiled by Bloomberg. When the bank priced the offering on June 24, the gap was 10.5 percent.

The narrowing discount, the result of a drop in shares of publicly traded rivals such as Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., may make it harder for Chairman Xiang Junbo to raise the maximum $20.1 billion he’s seeking in Hong Kong and Shanghai. It may also dim the prospect of eclipsing ICBC’s record $21.9 billion IPO in October 2006, even when taking into account an option to boost the sale by 15 percent.

“We’re not in an environment where people are going to be blasé about valuations, and as things have sold off, it’s put some pressure on them,” said William Fries, a fund manager at Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Thornburg Investment Management, which oversees about $57 billion.

11:50 Monday 5 July, 2010

Asian stocks snapped four days of decline while commodities and the won gained on optimism the region will continue to grow even as there are mounting concerns about the pace of the global recovery.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.2 percent to 111.90 as of 11:30 a.m. in Tokyo. Oil increased for the first time in six days and copper advanced in London for a second day. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.3 percent. The U.S. benchmark declined 0.5 percent on Friday.

Investor optimism rose as valuations became more compelling following the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s 13 percent decline since this year’s April 15 peak and after Premier Wen Jiabao said China will ensure “steady and relatively fast” growth. Gains were muted by the 125,000 decline in U.S. payrolls last month and after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet pressed governments to trim their budget deficits, saying this was needed to boost confidence.

“The outlook for growth around the world is certainly not as optimistic as it was a few months ago,” said Toby Hassall, a commodity analyst at CWA Global Markets Pty in Sydney. “There will be the longer-term participants in the market who are viewing this decline in price as a good time to get long.”

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