- UN forces increase attacks on Libya
- Nuclear crisis in Japan eases, though situation still critical
- AT&T to buy T-mobile from Deutsche Telekom
- Angela Merkel does well in regional German elections
- UK house prices increase by 0.9% YoY in February
- BoE quarterly bulletin offers moderately optimistic outlook
- ECB’s Mersch: Inflation risks on rise
- Schaeuble: ESM may require EUR80 billion in capital
- Oil +2% to $103/bbl; Gold +0.8% to $1428/oz; regional stocks rose by 1% on average
It has been a relatively quiet session with the national holiday in Japan giving traders a breather after the hectic days of last week.
EUR/USD opened higher after positive comments from Trichet were followed by Merkel’s election wins and some hawkish ECB statements in the weekend press. The pair traded to 1.4198 on two occasions in early interbank trade but was unable to trigger a presumed barrier option at 1.4200. Since then has been a slow and gradual slide back to the NY closing level from Friday near 1.4165. Ranges: 1.4156/98, EUR/CHF 1.2777/1.2831
USD/JPY has traded a 30 pip range 80.72/81.02. Traders feel that Kampo bids will appear near 80.50 and the heavy selling interest near 82.00 is also still in place. EUR/JPY traded 114.43/79.
AUD/USD has been bid for most of the session and triggered stops above .9990 and 1.0000 as risk returned to the markets. It has started to break higher again as the session draws to a close. Ranges: .9950/1.0021
Cable has been fairly heavy for the most part, as bearish articles in the weekend press weighed on sterling. Some moderately positive comments from the BOE’s chief economist and some decent home price data have helped restore some confidence. Ranges: Cable 1.6202/48; EUR/GBP .8727/44
