Market News

On January 26, 2009 in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar climbed, closing in on a near quarter century high against the Pound Sterling and a 6-week high against the Euro, as worries about the worldwide recession and financial sector difficulties prompted investors to stay away from risky assets.

On January 23, 2009 in early trading in Tokyo, the Japanese Yen held firm versus major currencies on lingering worries and economic fears over the global financial sectors. Trade was restrained and investors appeared to be adjusting their positions given the fact that there are few major economic events in advance of this weekend and next week’s New Year’s holiday in China.

On January 21, 2009 in early trading in Tokyo, the Pound Sterling and the Euro gained slightly, recuperating from earlier losses as investors soften somewhat on risk aversion. But market worries persisted over huge losses in the banking sector in the U.K. and the protracted Euro Zone recession, which limited the rebound of the Pound Sterling and the Euro.

Today, January 20, 2009 in early Tokyo trading, the U.S. Dollar gained versus a basket of currencies as the Pound Sterling extended losses to a 7-year low against the U.S. Dollar, following the announcement by the Royal Bank of Scotland of the largest loss in the U.K.’s corporate history and also investors’ renewed concerns about the global financial sector.

In early morning trading in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar and the Japanese Yen lost ground, as Asian share prices propped up U.S. stocks as a result of investors’ optimism that forthcoming bold and aggressive economic measures would be implemented not long after President-elect Obama is sworn into office on Tuesday, January 20, at 12:00 pm (EST).

NEW YORK - A growing number of international retail FX brokers are leaving the US market, with London-based ODL Securities becoming the latest to ditch its US operations to avoid meeting capital requirements to operate there.

In early morning trading in Tokyo, the Japanese Yen slipped broadly after U.S. stocks saw some gains on optimism about a new U.S. stimulus package. The Japanese Yen’s retreat against the Euro enabled the single currency to extend its rebound from a 5-week low against the U.S. Dollar.

Most major currencies traded narrowly today; the Euro struggled to advance while the Japanese Yen found support as global economic pressure increases and investors are paying attention to the forthcoming interest rate decision by the European Central Bank. Investors expect that the ECB will have to reduce interest rates today in order to curb inflation in the Euro Zone.

The U.S Dollar edged down slightly from a 1-month high versus the Euro today but remained fortified as investors are confident that the European Central Bank will have to reduce interest rates in the Euro Zone by week’s end. According to most analysts, the ECB should reduce interest rates by 0.5% from the current 2.5% during Thursday’s meeting, in order to curb the potential protracted economic downturn in the Euro Zone.

The Euro lost ground against the U.S. Dollar and the Japanese Yen in early trading today, touching on one month low as investors anticipate that the ECB will cut interest rates later this week. The Euro’s extended losses also was pulled down by the possibility that Standard & Poor, the international rating agency, will downgrade Spain's top "AAA" and as such, heightened concerns about the Euro Zone’s future economic outlook.

The Japanese Yen rose today, hitting a 1-month high versus the Euro, as bad U.S. jobs data released last week intensified fears that the global recession would continue and, as such, reduce demand for higher-risk assets.

Today, the U.S Dollar slipped against the Japanese Yen ahead of the payroll data from the U.S., which is due out later in the day. It is expected that this data will show a significant reduction in jobs in the U.S., while the Euro fell following a mixed bag of poor economic data from the Euro Zone. U.S. job data for December is expected to fall by 550,000 jobs and also show an unemployment rate higher than previous months.

The U. S. Dollar and the Japanese Yen jumped at the expense of currencies which are yielding higher returns as declining falling shares impacted risk demand. Meanwhile, the Euro was under selling pressure because of dismal data which highlighted worries about a poor state of the economies in the Euro Zone.

The Euro was able to reverse earlier losses against the U.S. Dollar which saw across-the board-losses in Wednesday trading. The cause was generally thought to be investor concerns over the continuing deteriorating American economy, and the expectations that U.S. interest rates will remain at their lowest level in recent history.

The U.S. Dollar saw some broad gains today, touching on its highest level in more than 3 weeks versus the Japanese yen, as the rising prices of shares helped to ease risk aversion, subsequently putting the Yen under pressure to sell. According to Steve Barrow of London’s Standard Bank, because stock prices are firming somewhat, there is some “bias towards risk taking.” As a result, the Japanese Yen is seeing the most trading activity.