Forex Previews

Forex News – Dijsselbloem replaces Juncker as new Eurogroup chief

Posted on January 22, 2013 at 10:42 am GMT

The Eurogroup meeting that took place in Brussels on Monday, concluded with the election of a new president for the group. Almost all Euro zone member countries voted in favour of the appointment of Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem except Spain. Dijsselbloem replaces outgoing president Jean-Claude Juncker from Luxembourg. A statement by Eurogroup said Dijsselbloem will serve a 30-month term and that he will retain his post as Dutch finance minister while chairing the Eurogroup. After his appointment as new [..]

Forex News – Yen gains as BOJ delays quantitative easing

Posted on January 22, 2013 at 9:11 am GMT

The Bank of Japan concluded a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday and announced it will adopt new measures to fight the threat of deflation and generate growth in the stagnant Japanese economy. “In order to overcome deflation early and achieve sustainable economic growth with price stability, the Government and the Bank of Japan will strengthen their policy coordination,” the Bank of Japan said in a statement today. The central bank said it will pursue monetary easing and aim to achieve [..]

Forex News – Obama inauguration held in Washington DC today

Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:32 pm GMT

U.S. President Barack Obama who was elected for a second term in office, was inaugurated today in Washington D.C., on the federal holiday marking the birthday of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The 51-year-old U.S. president has presided over an economy that is still recovering from the worst recession in a generation. Over the next two months, Obama’s administration will engage in a fiscal debate with Republican lawmakers who hold the majority in the U.S. House over [..]

Commodities News – Oil declines from 4-mth high on falling demand

Posted on January 21, 2013 at 12:46 pm GMT

Oil prices are trading lower in Monday, down from a four-month high last Thursday. The CFD for crude is down to $95.50 in the Europe session today, trading sideways since its decline from Thursday’s high of $96.48. Meanwhile the crude oil contract for February delivery, which expires tomorrow, fell as much as 51 cents to $95.05 a barrel in electronic trading on the NYMEX and was at $95.07 at 9 a.m. London time. The March contract was down 46 cents [..]

Forex News – Sterling extends losses after weak UK retail sales data

Posted on January 18, 2013 at 10:45 am GMT

Sterling tumbled after disappointing UK retail sales figures on Friday , which highlighted ongoing weakness in the British economy. Christmas shopping season failed to boost numbers which dropped in December by 0.1 percent, against expectations for an increase if 0.2 percent. On an annual basis, sales increase by 0.3 percent, the smallest since April and far below a forecast 1.1 percent rise. The weak data point to a gloomy consumer mood that has shut three well-known UK big-store chains since [..]

Forex News – Yen falls as Japan unveils government spending plans

Posted on January 11, 2013 at 8:08 am GMT

On Friday Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled spending plans by the government that would help stimulate Japan’s economy and drive it out of the recession it has been in since last June. This had a weakening effect on the yen, which has been weakening since November due to speculation of more easing measures by the Bank of Japan. The newly installed Japanese Prime Minister Abe is known to be pro-easing and has made it clear that he will pressure [..]

Forex News – AUDUSD surges to 1-mth high on robust China trade data

Posted on January 10, 2013 at 7:45 am GMT

China’s upbeat trade data lifted market sentiment on Thursday, providing some relief to investors who feared the world’s second largest economy was slowing down and was at risk of experiencing a “hard” economic landing. The increase in exports by over 14 percent in December compared to a year earlier was more than economists had forecast, beating expectations 5.0 percent growth. This was the fastest rate of expansion since May 2012. The figure was up from November’s 2.9 percent growth in [..]

Forex News – UK trade deficit shrank as exports rose

Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:46 am GMT

The UK trade gap shrank in November as exports rose more than imports, although the overall total trade balance is still in deficit. According to a report by the UK Office for National Statistics the goods trade deficit narrowed to 9.164 billion pounds from 9.487 billion pounds in October. This was slightly worse than the expected deficit of 9.05 billion pounds. The latest data reveals a sizeable deficit and makes it more likely that net trade was a drag on [..]

Forex News – Australian retail sales numbers fall

Posted on January 9, 2013 at 7:40 am GMT

Australian retail sales numbers were weaker than expected for the month of November according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Sales dropped 0.1 percent despite forecasts for a rise of 0.3 percent. October’s numbers were flat with no change at 0 percent. The weak data raises speculation that the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut interest rates further. “The risk is the RBA cuts earlier and deeper than our current cash rate forecast of one more cut in May,” commented [..]

Forex News – Australian trade deficit widens most since 2008

Posted on January 8, 2013 at 8:21 am GMT

The Australian dollar weakened against the US greenback after data released on Tuesday shows that Australia’s trade deficit widened in November as imports outpaced exports again, marking the 11th straight month of shortfalls. According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, this is the widest trade gap since March 2008 and was more than the forecast. The trade balance was a total of A$2.64 billion shortfall, more than the expected A$2.3 billion gap and up from October’s revised A$2.44 [..]

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