FOREX TRADING

Dollar Index Finds Buyers

Overall, the dollar index started slowly to add points during the Asian session and continued doing so throughout the first part of the European session. Right now, every major currency is trading below Tuesday’s opening price against the dollar, even thought the U.K. sterling and Japanese yen currencies showed some resilience. The dollar’s uptrend seen overnight reflects the selling from the equity markets, and echoes Mr. Bernanke’s latest comments, which called for a stronger dollar.

Dollar Index Technical View: TheLFB Member Charts

4 Hour Chart: Mixed. Main price points: 74.70, and 75.77. Looking for: Wave V)

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Dollar Index at Support

The dollar fell on Friday as risk sentiment and US stocks rose. US trade deficit widened more than anticipated on strong import growth and US consumer confidence unexpectedly fell. The S&P 500 rose 6.24 to 1,093.48. The yen was supported by yuan revaluation speculation. The euro rose on Q3 GDP data showing the eurozone economy had its first quarterly expansion since Q1 2008. Sterling was boosted by a planned merger of British Airways and Iberia. The Canadian dollar advanced on global recovery optimism and a narrowing Canadian trade deficit. The Australian dollar closed above the 0.93-handle, supported by Chinese revaluation speculations and improving global economic growth.

The US dollar index fell to 75.24 today. The long-term dollar index is near a historical low. The only time the index traded lower than the current level was in the spring and summer of 2008. The 75-handle support had been successfully tested the last few weeks. If this support is broken, the index will likely fall to the 71-area support that could be an important double bottom. There is resistance in the 77-78 area. If this resistance is broken, the dollar index’ technical outlook will improve.

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Forex Market Stalls In U.S. Trade

Overall, the U.S. session proved to be rather dull, even though the dollar index set a new low for the current year. At the same time, the currency market failed to follow the equity and the commodity markets, which continued to advance during the U.S. session. Over the last few days of trading, the major pairs had small price ranges and very small trading volume; something that is not usually seen as positive.

Dollar Index Technical View:

4 Hour Chart: Short. Main price points: 75.00. Looking for: Wave V)

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September Blow-Out Top

As has been previously reported in recent LFB headlines, the month of September equity trade is 50/50 at best in regard to ending in the green. “The Stock Market handbook goes back to the time that dirt was young, and records September as a poor month in equities” TheLFB Trade Team said. “$1000 invested just in September since 1919 was worth $800 in the year 2000, and interestingly, the first week or so is not so bad, it is weeks three and four that have done the damage” they added.

At this time the Japanese fiscal half year-ends, (September is the final month of Japan’s fiscal first half), and is when Japanese corporations have accounting incentives to repatriate funds back to Japan from overseas investment. This is also the time of year that the U.S. Mutual Fund year end on October 31st comes into focus. “Outside of historical trends, we start to see reasons behind the pattern of trade” TheLFB Trade team said.

“The fact that we go into September at yearly highs may help in regard to forward momentum, but the moment greed is replaced with fear of loss, the automated sell button tends to get jammed down.”

There is nothing that a 95% automated trading environment likes more than to overshoot a target, just for good measure, and with liquidity still being kept in very tight circles, there is a high probability chance that a blow-out reversal day is coming. “Hopefully it will be a one-off, and things quickly stabilize.” they added.

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Yesterday’s rally on Wall Street, which led to a devaluation of the major safe-haven currencies such as the USD, was led by a decision from CIT, a large financial firm, in favor of a $3 billion bankruptcy protection bailout. The resultant boost in confidence led stock markets into a strong rally, followed by a declaration from the Bank of Japan (BOJ) that their economy may no longer be getting worse. All of this optimism has helped to increase risk appetite and lower the appeal of safe-haven investments.

USD – Dollar Tumbles as Stock Markets Rally

The Dollar tumbled to its lowest level in over a month vs. the EUR, as Wall Street rallied on Monday. The rally was initiated by U.S. commercial finance company CIT board approving a $3 billion rescue package. The USD’s subsequent devaluation and Wall Street’s gains yesterday were also owed to increased risk appetite, as traders were taking into account continued optimism from the 2nd quarter, following last week’s optimistic results from U.S. banks. Adding to optimism for the U.S. economy, U.S. housing data released yesterday points to stabilization of the U.S. housing sector.

The Dollar Index touched 78.799 on Monday, the lowest level since the 3rd of June. The USD tumbled against the JPY by over 70 pips to 93.92, as traders ditched the greenback for higher yielding assets. The GBP/USD jumped by 120 pips to 1.6518, as the GBP acted positively to the optimism in the banking sector. The EUR/USD closed nearly 60 pips higher at 1.4214, as the USD’s safe-haven status is dissipating as signs of global economic recovery are in the making. It seems that as long as global equities rally, the USD will continue to slide vs. the major currencies.

Looking ahead to today, there are some crucial releases that are set to come out of both the U.S. and Canada. Canada is set to publish both the BOC (Bank of Canada) Rate Statement and Overnight Rate at 13:00 GMT. The results of these are set to determine the USD/CAD rate in the coming week. At 14:00 GMT, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify before the Financial Services Committee in Washington, DC. This is significant for future U.S. monetary policy. Surrounding this event, the forex market is likely to experience heavy volatility.

EUR – EUR Hits 6-Week High against USD

The EUR hit a 6-week high against the USD yesterday, as U.S. and global equities rallied. This was owed to optimistic U.S. and European data in the past week. Also, the U.S. largely led the rally, as U.S. financial firm CIT’s bondholders agreed to $3 billion of emergency financing to prevent bankruptcy. The GBP also hit a 3-week high against the USD due to global banking industry expectations. The 2 things that helped the Pound gain yesterday was risk, as traders felt comfortable in diversifying their investments due to renewed optimism.

The EUR/USD cross hit as high as the 1.4250 level on Monday, before closing at 1.4210. This bullish pattern of the pair is much owed to the USD’s safe-haven status declining as the global economic recovery kicks in. The GBP/USD closed at 1.6518, while the EUR/GBP cross finished lower by 30 pips at 0.8603. Much of the GBP’s bullishness recently has been owed to rising energy prices and the recovery of the banking sector, as the British economy is very dependent on these 2 industries.

Today, we can expect economic news releases from both Europe and Britain. Switzerland is set to release her trade balance figures at 06:15 GMT. A high figure will be good for the CHF, as this would show a higher surplus of exported goods during the previous month. Britain is set to release public sector net borrowing figures at 08:30 GMT. A lower than forecasted 15.7 billion Pounds may help the GBP today, further adding to recent optimism in the British currency.

JPY – JPY Climbs on CIT Rescue Plan

The JPY climbed against a number of its currency pairs yesterday, as a result of the rescue plan by the shareholders of U.S. finance company CIT. This automatically helped spread the rise in equities from the U.S. to Japan. As a result, the JPY climbed against its major currency pairs. The JPY climbed against the USD by 70 pips to 93.92, as investors put their money in higher yielding assets. The Japanese currency also made gains vs. the EUR, to close 64 pips higher at 133.34.

The strength of the Japanese currency may be owed to the fact that the Japanese economy has bottomed out. Therefore, forex traders are willing to put more of their money in the Japanese currency, as the global economic situation improves. Additionally, as this occurs, investors are beginning to pour their money back into Japan. The result will therefore lead to a stronger Japanese currency for the foreseeable future. We may see the USD/JPY drop below 93.50 in today’s trading.

Crude Oil – Crude Oil Hits a 2-Week High

The price of Crude Oil hit a 2-week high of $65.86 yesterday, before closing at about $65.30. Crude prices rose on Monday for a number of reasons. There was much optimism coming out of the U.S., spurred by the CIT rescue plan. In turn, the equity rally in America led traders to diversify their investments. Thus the USD declined, which helped boost the price of Crude Oil. The gains in commodities extended throughout the day.

There are some investors now that are talking of a price correction in Oil. However, if there is enough optimism to support the price of Crude, there is no reason that prices won’t rise to over $66 per barrel of Crude in today’s trading. This could come sooner rather than late, providing that the U.S. Dollar continues to plummet. In addition, optimism from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech may add to possible gains to Crude prices later in the day.

Article Source – CIT Bailout Adds to Risk Appetite, Safe-Havens in Decline