- President Obama’s speech fails to ease the gloomy mood surrounding the USD
- Barriers and stops targeted in USD/JPY, USD/CHF and EUR/USD as bearish dollar sentiment reigns
- Japan June CSPI +0.3% MoM
- RBA governor Glenn Stevens remains upbeat on Australian economic prospects
- New Zealand trade surplus grows less than expected but still staying steadily positive
- Regional stockmarkets higher by around 0.75%
- Gold doesn’t react to USD selling on FX markets, staying steady at $1614/oz
It was a very quiet morning as the markets awaited a speech by US President Obama at 01:00 GMT. Most pairs traded quietly in 20 pip ranges and the USD selling began in earnest thereafter, although stop-loss and barrier hunting would be a better description.
USD/JPY traded around 78.30 for most of the morning before the speech gave dealers an excuse to chase and trigger a barrier at 78.00. The initial low was 77.89 and then followed a nasty spike higher to 78.55 on totally unfounded intervention rumours. More barriers are noted at 77.75. Range: 77.89/78.55
EUR/USD traded quietly in a 1.4360/80 range for much of the morning before stops were triggered above 1.4420 after the speech failed to deliver any grand deal. A barrier at 1.4450 was subsequently breached, triggering stops to a high above 1.4480. Ranges: 1.4355/1.4485
USD/CHF also tried to break through a big option level, .8000 in this case, but the buyers managed to hold the tide at bay. Ranges: .8003/71, EUR/CHF 1.1540/1.1624
NZD/USD fell after the slightly disappointing trade data but recovered easily to post new post float highs at .8705.
AUD/USD rallied on some positive outlooks from RBA’s Stevens as well as the rampant USD-bearish sentiment. Ranges: 1.0817/1.0917
Cable 1.6264/1.6345, EUR/GBP .8822/63
