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The U.S. Dollar overcame a mixed opening in New York to finish higher for
the session. The boost for the Dollar came from the better than expected 9.6%
surge in New Home Sales. Prior to this report the Dollar was trading weaker
versus the Euro and New Zealand Dollar while posting gains against the British
Pound and Canadian Dollar.
Mixed trading activity in the U.S. equity markets helped pressure the Australian
and New Zealand Dollars. The divergence between these two currency pairs and
the U.S. stock markets could be a sign that trader appetite for risk is waning.
Weakness in the Chinese equity markets is also weighing on the Aussie and Kiwi
along with concerns that the Chinese central bank may impose limits on liquidity.
Traders fear this action may curb demand for Australian and New Zealand exports.
Technically the AUD USD remains in an uptrend, but a new lower top at .8428
has been formed. The NZD USD is also in an uptrend, but yesterday's closing
price reversal top was confirmed. This pattern is usually the first sign that
a major top could be forming.
The USD CAD rallied on Wednesday boosted by lower crude oil prices. The biggest
influence on the Canadian Dollar today was yesterday's comments from
a Bank of Canada official expressing his concerns about the appreciation in
the Canadian currency. The BoC fears that a rapid advance in the Canadian Dollar
will threaten economic growth. Traders fear the BoC may take action to curb
the advance and are lightening up positions in a preemptive move.
The USD JPY traded flat today. The inability of the U.S. equity markets to
pick a direction weighed on traders' minds today. Lately Japanese investors
have been repatriating their capital because of weakness in the Chinese equity
market and on speculation that U.S. stock markets may be due for a correction.
The main trend turned down on the daily chart for the GBP USD when this currency
pair crossed under 1.6274. Pressure has been on the British Pound for almost
all month following the decision by the Bank of England on August 6th to expand
its asset buyback program. This sent a message to traders that the U.K. economy
was still weak. The change in trend to down is a sign that traders believe
that the U.K. economy will lag the U.S. and Euro Zone in the recovery from
the global recession.
After an early surge to the upside after Germany reported a boost in business
confidence, the EUR USD weakened when the U.S. posted a better than expected
gain in new home sales. Although the recent economic news has been friendly
coming out of the Euro Zone, gains have been limited by comments from the European
Central Bank. While Fed Chairman Bernanke is willing to tout a U.S. economic
recovery, the ECB is warning investors of the potential bumps in the road to
recovery.
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