European Mid Morning Update 17th March 2008

Latest news on European Mid Morning Update 17th March 2008

Early Europe pulls the Dollar back higher to resistance levels

There have been no releases from Europe.

The following economic releases are due today:

Q4
Euro-zone Employment         (QoQ)
Euro-zone Employment          (YoY)
U.S. Current Account Balance   US$    -184.4bn

January
Swiss Adjusted Retail Sales (YoY) +2.7%

February
U.S. Industrial Production (MoM) - 0.1%
U.S. Capacity Utilization 81.3%

March
U.S. Empire Manufacturing - 6.30
U.S. NAHB Housing Market Index 20.0

Early Europe is finding it tough to follow-through on Asian losses with the Dollar lower by 2%-3% from Friday’s close. The extreme size of the move is one which will catch traders sitting on the fence – unable to sell Dollar’s with such a loss seen already but unable to muster any confidence in buying.

The Fed has managed to salvage some of the mess with their action on the discount rate and this was aided by a quick resolution to the crash of Bear Stearns. However, neither has provided the market with much shred of comfort.

There is an uneasy calm therefore with key Dollar resistance at 1.4720-50 Euro and 0.9860-87 Swissie. These areas are likely to see the Dollar move lower again though whether this will trigger new lows is not totally clear.

With the FOMC due tomorrow and the expectations of a 100bp cut in rates the prospect of direct gains in he Greenback appear slim but equally so, the downside may well be limited today also.

Watch equity markets which risk following Asia’s lead lower.

Note important support and resistance areas:

         USDJPY      EURUSD       USDCHF       GBPUSD
Res: 98.50-85    1.5986-05    0.9950-75    2.0275-85
Res: 97.50-80    1.5900-34    0.9860-85    2.0182-20

Spt: 95.95-27 1.5730-50 0.9644-60 2.0089-96
Spt: 95.05-25 1.5650-85 0.9595-06 1.9960-94

See Also

Menu