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The U.S. Dollar mounted a strong recovery late in the trading session as equity
markets weakened into the close for the second day in a row. Trading has been
lackluster for the past few days in the Forex markets highlighted by choppy,
two-sided trading on light volume.
Today the Dollar started out lower but quickly regained a little strength
in mixed trading following the release of two better than expected U.S. economic
reports. Early this morning it was reported that the S&P/Case-Shiller Housing
Report showed unexpected growth while consumer confidence rose. Both of these
reports helped the Dollar rebound after early session weakness in a trend that
continued throughout the day into the close.
The EUR USD could not hold on to gains following a firm early morning session.
Another report showing an improvement in Euro Zone growth helped give this
market an early boost, but the gains were erased throughout the day by the
bullish U.S. economic reports. A sell-off in the equity markets late in the
session finally pushed the Euro lower on the day. Technically, this market
remains in a range of 1.4447 to 1.4045 with the market basically hugging 50%
of this range.
Sell pressure continued to mount against the GBP USD. This currency pair has
been in a downtrend since August 6th following the announcement by the Bank
of England to expand its asset-buyback program. The sizeable government debt
is also an issue pressuring this market. Concerns are growing about the government's
ability to pay-off its debt. The charts indicate plenty of room to the downside.
Weakness in the Asian equity markets could be the catalyst driving the Japanese
Yen higher. There is talk that Asian investors may be unwinding carry trade
positions. The weak close in the U.S. equity markets today did not help matters
as nervous Japanese traders may be pulling money out of the markets in anticipation
of a sizeable break.
The USD CAD is closed higher after trading better most of the trading session.
Lower oil prices caused traders to lighten up long positions in the Canadian
Dollar after a four-day rally. A shift out of higher risk assets may lead to
another break in the Canadian Dollar over the short-run.
The weak close in U.S. equity markets led to weakness in the higher yielding
AUD USD and NZD USD. This could be a sign that appetite for risk is beginning
to wane. Despite new highs in the U.S. stock market over the past week, the
Aussie and Kiwi have not followed these markets higher. This divergence could
be an indication of a major top formation. Furthermore, weakness in China is
beginning to weigh on these two markets.
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