The biggest news of the day came early; Moody’s downgrading French Government Debt a notch from AAA to AA1. Just as a heads up, ForexLive reported the rumour of this 20 minutes before the announcement.
- EUR/USD gapped down from 1.2817 to 1.2780, finding support just below 1.2770. It consolidated from the balance of the Tokyo morning, then traded higher to nearly fill the gap.
Figures/announcements today:
Minutes from the November RBA Board meeting were released
- “Further easings may be appropriate ahead”
- “Current monetary policy stance appropriate”
- The minutes did not read as if a December rate cut is likely (this could change between now and Dec. 4 though)
- The BOJ concluded their Monetary Policy meeting with no rate changes and no further easings at present. Full statement.
- The All Industries Activity Index out of Japan (MoM) was at -0.3 (vs. +0.1 prior and expectations for -0.4 to -0.5%)
- Reports out of Japan that ASEAN and China have failed to agree on talks to establish a Sth. China Sea code of conduct – China Premier Wen saying: the two sides “should deal with issues, including disputes over territory or maritime rights, under the situation that would not be disturbed by outsiders,”
- Glen Stevens is scheduled to speak at a dinner with the Committee for Economic Development of Australia in Melbourne, Australia at 0815GMT.
- The Canadian and Australian dollars are to become classified as ‘reserve currencies’ by the IMF.
Currencies were largely range-bound throughout the session,
- USD/JPY 81.17 – 81.37
- EUR/USD bouncing from its Frnech downgrade lows at 1.2768 to 1.2822
- GBP/USD 1.5890 – 1.5914
- AUD/USD 1.0396 – 1.0422
- NZD/USD 0.8171 – 0.8201
- USD/CAD 0.9953 – 0.9969
