FOREX NEWS | CURRENCY NEWS BY FOREXLIVE

French consumer confidence 90 in May

Up from upwardly revised 89 in April (prev 88)

Shall we just cancel today due to lack of interest

I’m game.  It’s been a tough week, why don’t we pack up and head outside and start the weekend early.  Weather here in sunny Suffolk is truly glorious, shame to waste it.

Guess I should say something market related……

EUR/USD sits at 1.2538, where it closed out in North America Thursday.

Well-documented barrier option interest down at 1.2500 continues to be stoutly defended.

Sell stops seen through 1.2500 and more through 1.2480, before more barrier option interest at 1.2450.

Topside,  sell orders clustered 1.2600/20, buy stops seen through 1.2625.

Summertime and the livin is easy, fish are jumpin and the cotton is high……

German Gfk June consumer sentiment indicator steady at 5.7

From upwardly revised 5.7 in May (prev 5.6)

Slightly better than Reuter’s median forecast of 5.6.

European stocks seen opening lower

Financial bookies see FTSE opening down around -0.2%, DAX down around -0.4% and CAC  40 down around -0.3%.

Police urge Greeks to keep money in bank

‘Scale of withdrawals from Greek banks has led to speculation that eurozone-wide guarantee is needed to maintain confidence.’

Europe’s slump deepens as Kabuki summit falls short

‘Once again Europe’s leaders have swooped into Brussels and vanished hours later without offering any clear way out of the pulsating crisis at hand.’

Love him or loathe him, latest from AEP at The Telegraph.

Ideas Corner/May 25th

Got any ideas you’d like to share with your fellow readers, then here’s where to stick ‘em.

USD/JPY catches a late bid-tone

Go you good thing, only another 450 pips to go!! Have a great weekend all, the young guns from the UK will be along shortly. See you Monday++

ForexLive Asian market wrap: EUR struggling to get up off the floor

• Japan April CPI +0.2% YoY
• UK median pay deals increase by 0%
• Fed’s Dudley sounds bit less dovish
• Christchurch shaken by 5.2 earthquake, no damage reported
• Japan EconMin sees no change to BOJ policy of powerful easing
• Italian PM Monti: Germany can be persuaded on Euro bonds
• Regional stocks make small early gains but fall back late to be -0.25% on average
• Gold $1555/oz; Oil $90.75/bbl

AUD/USD was again the most volatile of the major pairs inside a 60 pip range. The market was eying important support in EUR/AUD and heavy trailing stops below 1.2800 and it tried buying the AUD first up in anticipation of a stop-loss fest. This did not materialise despite the negative EUR sentiment, which goes to show how bearish the AUD actually is. Sovereign names sold steadily above .9775 and this capped the pair. The New Zealand earthquake reports caused a late sell-off in thin markets. Ranges: .9723/83

EUR/USD has been stalling ahead of more barriers at 1.2500 but bounces have been very small. The Monti comments regarding Eurobonds did briefly resuscitate the bulls, but it was short lived. Ranges 1.2519/53

USD/JPY saw some modest corporate fixing demand but this was largely offset by some Uridashi redemptions and the net effect was a modest 15 pip rally. Ranges: 79.52/75, EUR/JPY 99.70/100.02.

EUR/CHF saw a nasty spike overnight and Asian trade also saw an unusual 30 pip spike on the back of buying by a UK clearer and some of the bigger hedge funds. Ranges: 1.2008/37

USD/Asia spiked higher in late trade as markets thinned out and dealers covered pre-weekend.

Cable 1.5648/77

USD/Asia on rise, Asian central banks seen slowing rise

USD/KRW is up to 1183 and USD/SGD is above 1.2800 in thin Friday afternoon trade. Asian central banks are expected to sell USD to slow down the rise, and this will mean that they will also sell EUR/USD, AUD/USD etc to keep their reserves in balance.