- Risk aversion in play as swine flu cases multiply
- Auto workers unions and car companies near agreement
- Buba’s Weber doesn’t want rates below 1%
- Japan’s economy to shrink 3.3% in 2009/2010
- Roger Bootle says Britain facing 1930’s style collapse
- Full text of Fridays’ G7 communique
The two main events for today were the IMF/G7 weekend meetings and the swine flu outbreak, which started in Mexico but has spread to the US, Chile and New Zealand. The financial meetings brought nothing new but did manage to dampen enthusiasm and this, allied with the flu outbreak, encouraged a renewed bout of risk aversion. USD/JPY opened at 96.80 after closing at 97.20 in NY on Friday and the other major pairings like EUR/USD, cable and AUD/USD followed the lead as the JPY crosses were heavily sold. Upcoming holidays in Japan are encouraging some trading accounts to wind down their positions. Liquidity was again poor.
127.03/128.86 has been the range in EUR/JPY; USD/JPY 96.52/97.31; EUR/USD 1.3155/1.3257; cable 1.4581/1.4690; AUD/USD .7101/.7240.
Nikkei -0.25%, Shanghai -1.4%, HK -2.75% and Kospi -0.8%. Gold $916/oz and Crude $50.50/bbl.
