Yen and Dollar Fell While Sterling Excelled

The Yen and the Dollar fell on Thursday, compensating some of the earlier session's gains, while sterling extended gains after the Bank of England kept its quantitative easing target unchanged.

A recovery in European stocks helped to buoy the Euro and perceived higher risk currencies, which fell sharply on Wednesday as optimism about the global economy's recovery prospects, waned and investors trimmed risk exposure.

European equities jumped by 1.1 %, breaking a five-session losing streak and pushing the yen lower after it surged broadly on Wednesday, hitting a five-month high against the USD.
Analysts noted, however, that the current moves are corrective and do not represent any fundamental shift in market sentiment.

Sterling outperformed meanwhile after the BoE left its asset buying programme at 125 billion pounds, just as most in the market had expected the central bank to expand the total by 25 billion pounds..

Sterling jumped by 1.2 % against the Dollar to $1.6255 , while the Euro lost 0.5 percent against the UK currency to 85.98 pence as the pound extended gains after the Bank of England policy decision. The news that it was not expanding quantitative easing came as the central bank left key interest rates unchanged at 0.5 percent, as widely expected.

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U.S. Markets: Trading capacity fell considerably ahead of the earnings period.

According to the latest forex updates, U.S. Markets are trading down by a little more than 1.5%, as investors wait for the earnings season to begin in full strangle mode.

The first major company that is due to report its earnings over the second quarter on Wednesday, and market partakers wait for the earnings result of Alcoa. TheLFB-Forex.com Trade Team said that the present earnings season is very important because it can justify or not the strong rally started in March, where the major U.S. indexes advanced as much as 40%.

More significantly, investors will focus on the banking sector earnings, to see if the “wonders” from the first quarter still have legs, and on the retail companies, to determine consumers’ activities over the previous quarter. Since consumer spending mostly drives the U.S. economy, the earnings reports are likely to have a significant influence in the financial market.

Over the last few days of trading, the market has been trading on light trading volume in the European and in the U.S. markets. Particularly, the last two days of trading in the cash market had been very light, especially in the European markets, where the U.K. FTSE moved only on half of the volume recorded over the last few weeks of trading.

The Dow Jones Index fell 144.27 points (1.73%) to 8,180.60, while the S&P 500 index declined 15.59 points (1.73%) to 883.13. Crude oil for July delivery was recently trading at $62.80 per barrel, lower by $1.20. Tuesday was the sixth repeated day in which oil fell down, time in which it lost almost 15%. Gold for July delivery was recently trading higher by $3.90 to $928.20. Gold managed to hold its value on Tuesday, even though crude oil headed lower.

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Central bank of Australia sees scope to cut interest rates.

On Thursday Australia's top central banker stated that he saw possibility to cut interest rates more to make sure a long-lasting economic influence and warned about declining business investment and consumer spending.

Thursday’s Government data sought to strike a chord to the investors about downside risks to the economy with exports falling 11% in April from March. Australian dollar fell down to $0.8014 from around $0.8040 beforehand.

As a result of a droop in exports, Australia suffered its first trade deficit since July last year, just a day after 1st quarter GDP showed the country moved away a recession, helped by its best trade performance in 48 years.

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said that it is likely that activity has remained subdued in the June quarter, the quick downfall in business investment is more or less undoubtedly continuing. While consumer expenditure has held up quite well so far, it may be weaker over the next few months, as the one-off government payments pass and rising unemployment starts to weigh.

Stevens also said that the joint effect of the large fiscal and monetary incentive has played a role in mitigating Australia from the worst global downturn in decades and that monetary policy intended to cut borrowing costs and support demand but the central bank would be careful not to encourage shaky debts.

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General Motors Corp. got the court approval to auction its assets.

General motors Corp. filed the bankruptcy and won the court approval to auction its assets with the highest bid coming from the U.S. reserves and aimed at closing the sale in July to create a restructured Automaker.

Yesterday Judge Robert Gerber in Manhattan gave the permission to borrow $15 billion of a planned $33.3 billion bankruptcy loan from U.S. Bankruptcy. According to a court filing yesterday the U.S. government will expand $50 billion in loans to the 100-year-old automaker and its strategy is to convert that into a 60 % stake in the restructured organization.

General motors Corp. the largest carmaker until its 77-year sovereignty ended last year, had beaten Chrysler LLC as the largest manufacturer to file for bankruptcy. Detroit-based GM plans to commence a new company in 60 to 90 days, equipped with vehicles from its Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC units for the U.S. market.

The court will administer the sale or liquidation of unprofitable brands, such as Saturn and Hummer, and at least 11 unwanted factories. General motors Corp stated in its bankruptcy filings yesterday that it has more than 100,000 creditors, and they will recover some assets in the restructuring. Company operations outside the U.S. were not included in the petition.

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General Motors prepares to Declare Bankruptcy Yen rose vs. Dollar

According to the latest Forex updates - After the declaration of U.S. government that General Motors Corp. will file for insolvency today, the Yen climbed up for a 2nd day against the Dollar and the Euro, impelling demand for Yen as a protection from the financial crisis.

The Yen became sophisticated versus 13 of the 16 most-traded currencies after the U.S. government said GM is planning to close 11 factories, accumulating to signs the U.S. recession is far from over. The Euro fell against the Pound on alarm that European Central Bank policy makers will signal this week they plan further steps to keep down borrowing costs, wetting the request of the 16-nation currency. After a Chinese report that shows manufacturing expansion led to the increase of Taiwan Dollar the most in a month.

The Yen became stronger to 95.14 per Dollar as of 1:29 p.m. in Tokyo, from 95.34 in New York last week, when it completed a 3.5 % monthly gain. The Yen increased to 134.58 per Euro from 134.96. The Euro traded at $1.4147 from $1.4158, after gaining 7 % last month, its major forward move since December. Europe’s currency fell to 87.13 pence from 87.46 last week. Sumitomo Mitsui’s Uno said that the Dollar may weaken to as low as 94.25 Yen today.

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Magna International Inc. has been chosen by Germany as the buyer for General Motors Opel.

Magna International Inc. has been chosen by German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government as the buyer for General Motors Corp.’s Opel and confirmed a financing plan aimed at helping the money-losing unit prevent insolvency.

Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck told reporters at 2:13 a.m. in Berlin after a meeting with leaders including Merkel that the Canadian car-parts maker, Magna that’s competing with Fiat SpA in its bid for Opel, will invest in the Russelsheim, Germany-based carmaker. Germany will provide a 1.5 billion-Euro ($2.1 billion) bridge loan to keep Opel afloat. Opel will be placed under a trust later today, shielding it from a probably GM bankruptcy next week.

Peer Steinbrueck also said that they don’t take the decision lightly and the federal and state representatives are aware that there are some risks and they have a high interest in maintaining employment at all four Opel sites.

GM is selling a majority ventures in Opel, including the Vauxhall brand in the U.K., as part of a worldwide restructuring before a U.S. government-imposed June 1 deadline to restructure. Germany, which led the search for an investor, has a say because of the Detroit carmaker’s request for loan guarantees.

In front of Merkel there’s a national election on Sept. 27, and he is under pressure from lawmakers and labor unions to save the 25,000 German motors Opel jobs out of GM Europe’s 55,000 positions.

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OPEC Meet to keep Oil Price Stable

According to the OPEC meet on 28th May in Vienna, OPEC decided to keep production quotas unchanged in order to help the global economy. The group has completed 77 percent of its cuts, down from a revised 82 percent for March.

Oil and Natural gas are important source of energy. Due to increase in oil prices day by day had effected the badly effected Global economy. The Global economy needs its source of cheap energy in order to start growing once again, and more importantly, it needs consumers to spend their money on goods and services. OPEC's decision to stick to its targets had been widely expected.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said. It’s the second time this year the 12-member group has met without revising that total. The Organization Of Petroleum Exporting also agreed to maintain the quota. Naimi said OPEC would hold its next ordinary meeting on September 9.

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Rio Tinto Group the iron ore exporter, agreed to a 33% drop in contract prices with Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp.

Rio Tinto Group, the world’s 2nd largest iron ore exporter, agreed to a 33% fall in agreement prices with Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp., the first downfall in 7 years as the worldwide recession cuts demand.

London- based Rio said today in a statement Nippon Steel, the world’s 2nd largest steelmaker, contracted to pay Rio Tinto Group 97 cents a dry metric ton unit, or about $61 a ton, for its standard product in the year started April 1. That compares with last year’s record of 144.66 cents for Rio’s Pilbara Blend fines.

Rio’s iron ore unit chief executive Sam Walsh gave a statement that- “We believe this settlement is a realistic outcome for both parties, one that reflects the global market for iron ore and the current challenging market conditions facing our customers.”

Rio share went up 1.2% to A$64.82, reversing an earlier down fall of as much as 1.7 %, at 2:07 p.m. Sydney time on the Australian stock exchange. Nippon agreed to pay 112 cents per dry metric ton unit for Rio’s premium Pilbara Lump product, 44% lower than last year’s contract price, the statement said.

Rio last year won an 80% gain in fines prices with Asian customers and a 97 %rise in lump prices. Australia’s 3rd largest iron ore exporter, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., jumped as much as 8.3 % and Mt. Gibson Iron Ltd. as much as 9.1%.

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Yen-selling worsened by position unwinding

According to the latest Forex news- On Monday the Yen fell broadly after the news that North Korea carried out a nuclear test and a report that it had fired a short-range missile, with traders saying its fall was exaggerated by position unwinding.

The Yen showed slight initial response on Monday to the news that North Korea had carried out a nuclear test, but Yen-selling boosted up after South Korea's Yonhap news said North Korea had fired a short-range missile.

News about North Korea could be seen as being negative for the Yen given Japan's geographical propinquity to North Korea some market players said.

A trader for a major Japanese trading house said-"That provided the trigger, but one factor is that there had been some short-term long positions in the Yen.”

The trader also said that the Yen is being forced by the cutting of some loss-making positions. On Friday the USD rose 0.4 % to 95.11 Yen, drawing away from a 2 month low of 93.85 Yen on trading platform EBS.

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A concise chief currencies pair abstract

According to the latest Forex update again on Friday the Euro (EUR/USD) went up, gaining more than 100 pips and closing just below the 1.4000. Before moving back the pair busted above the 1.4000 and reached 1.4050.The pair gained more than 500 pips for the week as USD weakened across the board. Concerns about the U.S. creditworthiness add another reason for traders to move away from the greenback, moving forward the majors higher.

On Friday the Pound (GBP/USD) moved higher gaining another 85 pips and closing above the 1.5900 level. The U.K. revised GDP figures showed that the economy shrank by 1.9% as the preliminary released projected.

The Aussie (AUD/USD) gained approximately 50 pips as USD continues to take a beating. On Friday Gold prices posted a silent gain closing above $957 an ounce. The Aussie closed the week trading higher than the 0.7800 level and moving forward over all of the daily simple moving averages.

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