Forex: EUR/JPY upside move reaches 125.00

The EUR/JPY had a strong boost yesterday which is extending higher today. ECB Draghi's speech was upbeat and gave confident indication that Eurozone's economy will recover. Also, most investors are reluctant to be on the other side of the BoJ's upcoming activities.

Given these factors, this rally that has already reached 125.00, on today's European opening, comes as no surprise. France budget shows a narrower deficit in January, improving from €-87.2B to €-12.8B. The economic calendar will have German industrial production and LTRO repayment announcement at 11:00 GMT, but investors are focused on US nonfarm payrolls later in the day.

UBS analsyts are bullish: “With the MACD threatening to cross above its zero line, the risk is for resumption of bull trend”, wrote analyst Gareth Berry, pointing to resistance at 127.71 and support at 120.36.

Mar 8, 2013

Commodities Brief – Precious metals trade sideways ahead of US payrolls, crude oil consolidates above 91.00

Gold prices have traded in a rather confined range Friday (1575.85 – 1580.05) as investors are seemingly content to wait-and-see the impending results of the Nonfarm Payrolls later today in the United States at 13:30 GMT. On the heels of dual announcements out of both the ECB and BoE, which abstained from any mention of additional stimulus measures, the yellow metal found itself trending lower. At the time of writing gold is trading at USD $1578.62 per oz., technically well positioned for a movement higher (on the caveat of optimistic US data), as its presently operating above its 20, 50, and 200-day SMA.

Forex: GBP/USD pares losses to trade at 1.5019/24

The GBP/USD downside seemed to lose steam at the 1.4982 level (session low), where supports kicked in and helped buoy the pair from a prolonged drop. During European trading however, the cross has gradually pared its losses to recover the mark of 1.5019/24 in these moments, ascending into positive territory and nearing a session high of 1.5028.