- EU and IMF teams arrive in Dublin for talks on resue plans
- Regional stocks, oil and gold all make strong gains
- Singapore’s GDP likely to slow to around 5% in 2011 from 15% in 2010
- NZ PPI higher than expected
- Bank of Korea again seen intervening in USD/KRW
After a very quiet session in NY, more of the same was expected in Asia but it has been livelier than expected with EUR buying the main factor. The arrival of EU and IMF officials in Dublin has increased expectations of an imminent bail-out plan for Ireland and for Irish banks. EUR/USD closed in NY at 1.3530 after seeing a high of 1.3566 during North American trade and on two occasions during early trade the pair stalled ahead of some heavy sell orders at 1.3570. Once these were worked through, stops above 1.3575 were quickly triggered but the 55-day MA at 1.3592 has subsequently stalled gains. Retracements off the high have so far been very shallow. Ranges: 1.3526/93
EUR/JPY has seen some very heavy buying today and this has impacted on USD/JPY also, it being the only major pairing where the USD hasn’t fallen. Ranges: USD/JPY 83.11/39, EUR/JPY 112.50/113.23
EUR/GBP has also moved higher today on the back of general EUR short-covering and this has limited the rise in the cable. Ranges: EUR/GBP .8504/43, Cable 1.5890/1.5921
The AUD has been rather quiet but it did manage to break above the overnight high at .9834. Range: .9788/.9847
Markets: Nikkei +1.1%, HK +1.2%, Shanghai +0.7%. Gold and Oil both +1%.
