- RBA leaves rates unchanged, deems current policy to be appropriate
- China’s official PMI +52.9, down from 53.9 in December
- UK’s NIESR calls on UK government to slow down proposed spending cuts
- Japanese wages fall for first time in 10 months
- Australian business confidence falls sharply
- Regional stockmarkets rise by 0.3% on average
- Gold $1338/oz, Oil $91.80/bbl
After the usually quiet Asian morning, cable was the first pair to move, adding to the overnight gains as stops above 1.6050 were triggered. EUR/GBP also fell but couldn’t break below the overnight low. Strong demand from a UK clearer and also from some US real money accounts are being blamed for the GBP rise over the last 2 sessions. Ranges: Cable 1.6017/70, EUR/GBP .8537/59
AUD/USD fell in early morning trade, primarily on cross flows as EUR/AUD and GBP/AUD found buyers, but short-covering set in despite the poor business confidence numbers. Dealers had stop-loss buy orders on their books above 1.0005 and they were keen to have these triggered before the RBA statement. Short-covering pre-RBA saw a high of 1.0016, the pair fell back to .9985 after the slightly more dovish than expected statement, but has since rebounded to post a new session high. Ranges: .9964/1.0037
EUR/USD has been led for a change, firstly by the cable and then by the AUD/USD. Flows have been primarily in the crosses. Ranges: EUR/USD 1.3687/1.3731, EUR/CHF 1.2921/46
USD/JPY has been supported by modest buying by Kampo around 81.90 level but once those bids were filled prices moved lower quite quickly. Ranges: 81.77/82.14
