March 17, 2014 – The Plot

March 17
2014

Dollar Mixed Despite Supportive Data

The US dollar fell against the euro today even though macroeconomic reports from the United States were relatively good. The greenback was able to rise against the Japanese yen as the market sentiment was not in favor of the Japanese currency. The New York manufacturing index rose from 4.5 in February to 5.6 in March. The report indicated that “business conditions continued to improve for New York manufacturers, though activity grew slowly”. Industrial […]

March 17
2014

Can Dollar Turn Bearish Trend into Bullish?

The US dollar did not fare well last week as Forex traders demonstrated appetite for risky currencies despite worrisome news from China and Ukraine. Can the greenback turn the bearish trend into bullish this week? Possibly. The most important event that should drive the FX market and the US currency in particular this week is the monetary policy meeting of the Federal Reserve on March 19. Economists speculate whether the Fed […]

March 17
2014

Yuan Drops as PBoC Widens Trading Band

The Chinese yuan slipped today after the nation’s central bank allowed greater exchange rate flexibility, widening the trading band for the currency. The drop may help to bolster the weakening Chinese economy, increasing profits from overseas trade. The People’s Bank of China extended the trading range to 2 percent on either side of a daily reference rate, while previously it was at 1 percent. It was the first move to increase exchange rate […]

March 17
2014

Aussie Jumps as Westpac Drops Interest Rate Cut Forecast

The Australian dollar jumped today as Westpac Banking Corp. said that it no longer expects an interest rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia. Such comments boosted the currency even though there are analysts who still expect lower borrowing costs in the South Pacific country. Bill Evans, Westpac chief economist, said: Previously we expected that rates would be reduced by 25 basis points […]

March 17
2014

Canadian Dollar Gets Boost from Risk Appetite

Sentiment has improved a bit today, following last week’s risk aversion. The result is that the Canadian dollar is getting a bit of a boost against its major counterparts. Part of the reason for the risk appetite is that there hasn’t been any substantial response to the results of the referendum held in Crimea over the weekend. For now, risk appetite is the story to start the week. Even though Crimea has declared independence from […]

March 17
2014

Japanese Yen Heads Lower Today

Japanese yen is lower right now, dropping against its major counterparts as news from the weekend is processed. Even though risk aversion is the general rule for now, the yen is heading lower. It’s been an interesting weekend around the world. In Crimea, the word is that the people voted to leave Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Some are skeptical of the news reports, since many of them come from […]

March 17
2014

EUR/USD Ignores Crimea & Eurozone CPI, Rises

EUR/USD rose today even though fundamentals were not particularly supportive for the currency pair. The eurozone Consumer Price Index unexpectedly edged down from 0.8% in January to 0.7% in February (event A on the chart), while US reports were positive for the most part. Yet the euro ignored the unfavorable macroeconomic indicators as well as the referendum in Crimea, which apparently led to secession of the region from Ukraine and annexation by Russia. NY Empire State Index […]

March 17
2014

Geopolitical Crisis — Good for Traders or a Headache?

Although the current situation with Ukraine, Russia and West’s reaction may seem kind of unique, there were many crises in our recent history that affected the foreign exchange market similarly, making it react impulsively. Despite the real impact of such events on the world (which is usually very negative for the stock market), the news of geopolitical tensions or even conflicts create significant trading opportunities in currencies. At the same time, some […]

Day: March 17, 2014