Majors, 18 February 2010

Majors: Yesterday the Euro remained relatively steady against the Greenback sitting mostly above 1.3760 in Asia. On the economic front EZ construction output grew 0.5% whilst the trade balance was reported to be 7 billion, almost doubling expectations. The release of these figures saw the Euro make a modest move up towards the 1.3790 region however it gave up its gains against the Big Dollar after EU finance ministers failed to agree on concrete measures to help Greece cut its deficit. The Euro continued to decline to an overnight low of 1.3585 as the US posted higher than expected housing starts and import prices. Similarly the Yen weakened against the USD overnight as the positive figures out of the US churned the risk appetites of investors. The release of the FOMC minutes indicated some discussion on “exit strategies” with policy makers agreeing that “it would soon be appropriate” to increase the discount rate. The USD gained more than 1% on the Yen rallying from a low of 90.083 to 91.227. This morning the both Yen and Euro open weaker against the Dollar at 91.203 and 1.3610 respectively.