- Australian job ads fall in March
- RBA widely expected to cut interest rates by 25bps tomorrow
- HSBC raises almost $18 billion
- Precious metal prices continue to fall, gold hits $870/oz
- Regional stock markets rally further
With most of the world’s leaders headed for home after G20 and NATO meetings, it was a quiet session on the news and data front but it wasn’t quiet for the JPY crosses. Market sentiment has shifted significantly and Japanese retail accounts were notable buyers of the JPY crosses. EUR/JPY jumped from 135.20 to 136.20 in the first hour of trade, fell back to 135.80 before rallying again to test strong technical resistance at 136.30/137.00, with 137.07 being the high. Sterling, which was the biggest loser on the way down, is now shaping as the the currency likely to gain most if a recovery takes place. EUR/GBP stops below .9000 are said to be particularly large. AUD was fairly quiet ahead of the RBA tomorrow, with a 25bps cut priced in to the market.
Markets: Nikkei +1.6%, Hang Seng +3.4%, Shanghai flat and the Kospi +1.6%. Gold fell again, touching $870/oz before bouncing and crude oil futures are at $53/bbl.
Ranges: EUR/USD 1.3513/81, Cable 1.4847/1.4947, USD/JPY 10.22/92, USD/CHF 1.1242/96, EUR/JPY 135.42/137.07 and AUD/USD .7156/.7208.
