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RBA Leaves Rates Unchanged!
By Mike Conlon | February 2, 2010
So this morning is a risk-aversion day in the currency markets, however equity futures in the US are up slightly this morning, as are gold and oil. At some point today, I expect some sort of mean reversion.
Here’s a look at the currencies:
Aussie (AUD): As mentioned, the Aussie is down this morning as the RBA left rates unchanged. There was also a comment made about sovereign debt concerns that is also weighing on the Aussie. It’s currently the biggest loser on the morning, down 1% vs. the US dollar and 1.3% vs. the Japanese yen.
Kiwi (NZD): The Kiwi is down this morning trading in sympathy with the Aussie, and there was also news that wages in New Zealand rose at their slowest pace in 9 years. This demonstrates that the labor market is weak and is a sign that rate hikes may be off the table for some time.
Loonie (CAD): The Loonie is down this morning as a result of risk-aversion, though it has been trading higher recently as oil prices have been moving higher. There’s no real market making news on the Loonie until the end of this week when they report the unemployment change on Friday, so look to oil prices to give clues about where the Loonie may go.
Euro (EUR): The Euro is up slightly this morning as it’s taking a much needed break from the pounding it’s been taking. By now you are familiar with all of the negative news from the region regarding the PIIGS countries, so today, no news is good news. The trend though is still clearly down.
Pound (GBP): The pound is lower this morning as market sentiment over the health of the UK economy is still negative. The pound tested 1.59 vs. the US dollar and is near a three-month low.
Dollar (USD): US home sales figures come out at 10AM EST and could serve as a barometer to the health of the economic recovery in the US. Coming on the heels of the biggest federal budget EVER proposed, there are increased worries that the administration’s plans, “just don’t add up” and that proposed tax hikes on businesses and the wealthy will further stall jobs growth.
Yen (JPY): The yen is higher this morning as the global risk-aversion theme is taking place. This may leave the BOJ in a conundrum as their attempts to weaken the yen to improve exports could be undermined by global risk aversion themes. Stay tuned on this one.
Overnight, Asian equity markets were up and European markets are up as well, though off their highs of the day. US stock futures are slightly higher, though I suspect that this existing home sales data at 10 may be the catalyst for a stock market reversal if they come in worse than expected.
Currently, oil is up almost a full percent to over 75, and gold is trading just higher than 1100 to 1113.
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