Hurricane sandy reflects very low volumn in forex market

 Hurricane sandy reflects very low volumn in forex .

The U.S. Atlantic seaboard continued to assess the damage that Sandy inflicted.

The storm roared ashore along the New Jersey coast on Monday as a monster post-tropical system, lashing the heavily populated northeastern U.S. with heavy rains, high winds and a deadly storm surge.

Markets were closed for a second day in the U.S. on Tuesday, though investors sold dollars and prepped for life to return to normal soon, which sent higher yielding currencies higher.

The single currency also strengthened after Italy saw borrowing costs fall to their lowest levels since May 2011 at a government auction of five- and ten-year debt.

EUR/USD gains despite month-end flow talk



Link to ForexLive

    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 02:04 AM PDT
    EUR/USD is up at 1.3000 having been as high as 1.3005, the pairing making pretty decent gains despite much market talk of negative month end flows.
    It should be noted that the 4.00 London fix is the important fix for these flows, so it may be a little premature to rule them out.
    Reports now have buy stops through both 1.3015 and 1.3020, take your pick.
    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 02:01 AM PDT
    Inline with forecasts but an increase from  August’s revised 10.6%
    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 01:40 AM PDT
    FRANKFURT (MNI) – The Troika is not discussing a new debt
    restructuring plan for Greece, Thomas Wieser, President of the key
    European Working Group (EWG), told German radio Deutschland Radio
    Kultur on Wednesday.
    “In none of the discussion rounds [with the Troika] was the word
    ‘haircut’ mentioned,” Wieser said. Media reports about a possible debt
    restructuring are nothing more than mutually reinforcing press
    speculation and “have nothing to do with the work of the Troika,” he
    said.
    The EWG, which meets in Brussels, is composed of senior finance
    officials from Eurozone governments. Its main task is to prepare the
    agenda for meetings of the Eurozone finance ministers, known as the
    Eurogroup. That group is scheduled to hold a teleconference call to
    discuss Greece starting at 1300 GMT today.
    Wieser told the radio station that he would not exclude a new deal
    with Greece to show a “more measured adjustment program,” given the
    collapse of the country’s economy.
    “It is possible that this will require additional liquidity.
    However, based on all we have heard, it would not require additional
    funds from the 16 member states [but] could be financed within the
    framework for the current program,” Wieser said.
    Still, he cautioned that talks between the Troika and Greece have
    not been concluded yet. “They are close to the end, but as is well known
    the last steps in these agreements are always the most difficult,”
    Wieser said.
    –Frankfurt newsroom, +49-69-720-142; jtreeck@mni-news.com
    [TOPICS: M$X$$$,M$$CR$,MGX$$$,M$Y$$$]
    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 01:21 AM PDT
    Back up towards the earlier Asian session highs of 1.0392.  The  strong  building approvals data which came out o/n has started to give some comfort to the RBA as the economy starts to recognize the recent rate cuts, but there’s apparently some heavy offers lined up ahead  from 1.0390 through to 1.0410 to thwart the bulls, with EUR/AUD adding to the cause  as the cross breaks back up through 1.2500.
    Buys stops apparently lie just above 1.0410, ahead of more offers up at 1.0440/50 ( 1.0450 possible barrier) which also includes a 61.8% retracement of the  mid Sept-early Oct fall around 1.0444.
    AUD’s around 1.0387 with the cross at 1.2508
    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 12:50 AM PDT
    FRANCE DATA: Sept PPI +0.3% m/m, +2.9% y/y; Aug: +1.3% m/m, +2.8% y/y
    – Manufacturing PPI +0.3% m/m, +2.4 y/y
    – Oil product prices +0.1% m/m, +13.4% y/y
    – Food and tobacco prices +0.9% m/m, +4.0% y/y
    – Industry import prices -0.6% m/m, +2.3% y/y
    – Please see MNI Mainwire for further details
    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 12:50 AM PDT
    FRANCE DATA: Sept sa consumer spending on goods +0.1% m/m, -0.3% y/y
    – Above most analysts’ forecasts; MNI survey median forecast: flat m/m
    – 3Q consumer spending +0.2% q/q; 2Q -0.2% q/q
    – Please see MNI Mainwire for further details
    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 12:48 AM PDT
    Up strongly from -0.8%m/m in August but forecasts were  for +0.1% m/m , -0.2% y/y
    Sept Producer prices  +0.3%m/m, +2.9% y/y (above forecasts of +0.1%m/m, +2.2% y/y,  but below August’s reading of +1.3%)
    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 12:22 AM PDT
    EUR/USD:   Offers 1.2980 up to 1.3010, expected buy stops just above through 1.3015. Bids  1.2920/30 sell stops below ahead of larger bids 1.2880/00 (sovereigns) sell stops through 1.2875
    GBP/USD:   Bids 1.6065/75, larger down at  1.6000/20, sell stops below  and through 1.5975. Offers 1.6090/00 possible buy stops just above ahead of more offers 1.6120/40 (downtrend line resistance around 1.6120 from Sept 21 highs),
    EUR/GBP:  Offers 0.8070/75, tech res/offers 0.8090/00 (0.8101- 200 day MA) likely buy stops just above, and more offers 0.8135/45. Bids 0.8040/450.8020/25 and 0.8000 /10 (cloud top 0.8010, 55 day MA 0.8004) and tech support 0.7968 (100 day MA)
    USD/JPY:  Bids 79.40/50, large bids 79.00/20 and large sell stops below through 78.95. Offers from 79.90/80.10 and above at 80.40/60, buy stops above both.
    EUR/JPY:  Bids 103.00/10 likely sell stops just below ahead of bids 102.20/30 and tech support at the  200 day MA 102.09), sell stops through 102.00 and 101.80. Offers 103.30/50 (tenkan line 103.38) and 103.80/00
    AUD/JPY: Bids 82.40/50, sell stops through 82.30 ahead of tech supp 82.20/25 (200 day MA 82.20), sell stops through 82.  Offers 82.90/00, buy stops up through 83.10 ahead of offers 83.50/60 (Aug 21 high 83.57)
    AUD/USD:  Strong offers 1.0390/00 (1.0395 daily cloud base) with buy stops through 1.0410.  Further offers 1.0440/50 (61.8% of 14 Sept-8 Oct fall around 1.0444). Bids 1.0340/50 (200 day MA 1.0340),  more 1.0325/35 and  1.0300/10 sell stops down through 1.0280 ahead of stronger bids 1.0230/50  and 1.0200/10 (barrier 1.0200) .
    EUR/AUD:  Bids 1.2450/60 likely sell stops below ahead of tech support bids 1.2420/30 (Oct 2 lows) and 200 day MA at 1.2411.  Offers 1.2500/10, 1.2540/50 and 1.2590/00
    NZD/USD:  Offers 0.8225/35 likely buy stops above ahead of tech res 0.8260/70 (Oct 5 high 0.8266). Bids 0.8200/10 (cloud top 0.8202), 0.8180/90 (38.2% retracement of 5-28 Sept rise around 0.8188) possible sell stops through 0.8160 (55 day MA 0.8163)
    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 12:11 AM PDT
    Just been reading some info from a US investment bank and the findings of their month-end portfolio rebalancing model.
    The model points to positive flows for the US dollar and Swedish Krona
    Points ot negative flows for euro and swissy and to a lesser extent kiwi.
    Bear in mind month end portfolio rebalancing flows are only one factor, but there you have them.
    UPDATE:  Just been told UK clearer also calling for negative month end EUR/USD flows
    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 12:10 AM PDT
    OSAKA, Japan (MNI) – The European Central Bank is well equipped to
    withdraw large amounts of liquidity from the financial markets quickly
    if inflation risks arise but it has no plans to do so in the near
    future, ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said Wednesday.
    Coeure told a banking seminar here that the “very weak” European economy is
    expected to “recover gradually” in 2013 but confronted by signs of
    weaker growth in Asia and the U.S., “the Euro area can count only on its
    own forces.”
    Asked if he sees any inflationary or deflationary pressures emerging in the
    region, Coeure said, “There is no danger as risks to price stability are
    balanced … also because of monetary policy decisions taken by the ECB.”
    Europe is not exposed to deflationary risks in the short term, he added.
    The ECB’s mandate of ensuring price stability has not changed but its policy
    tools have evolved to counter unprecedented financial crises, the ECB
    policymaker said.
    “If there is any sign that risks to price stability materialize, then we are
    most likely to withdraw liquidity from our system, and that’s very easy,” he
    said.
    Asked what the central bank would do as a first step when it detects a sign of
    price instability, and what it would do if that did not work, he replied, “If we
    have to withdraw liquidity, we will come back to our usual way of tendering
    liquidity, which is variable rate allotments, instead of fixed full lot
    allotments.”
    But he quickly added: “We have no plan to do it in the near future but at any
    time we can do it.”
    “If there is a need to withdraw large quantities of liquidity in a short time
    span, we have an instrument that we’ve never used, that we said we could use,
    which will consist of issuing debt certificates. That’s something that lots of
    central banks do,” he said.
    Coeure said the ECB does not formulate monetary policy “dominated by banking
    system supervision.”
    European banking system adjustments in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis are
    only “half way” complete and money is not sufficiently flowing to businesses and
    households from lenders in countries like Spain, he said.
    He declined comment on developments in foreign exchange markets or how he
    evaluates Japan’s forex intervention policy, but simply said, “the euro is
    stable.”
    Asked about the notion that if the single currency system fails, Europe will
    fail, Coeure replied, “I agree.”
    tokyo@marketnews.com
    ** MNI Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-6860-4820 **
    –email: msato@mni-news.com
    [TOPICS: M$A$$$,M$X$$$,M$$EC$]
    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT
    Compared to Reuter’s median forecasts of +0.3% m/m, -1.2% y/y.
    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT
    Real, seasonally adjusted retail sales:
    September: +1.5% m/m, -3.1% y/y
    MNI survey median: +0.5% m/m, -1.2% y/y
    MNI survey range: +0.3% to +0.5% m/m
    August: +0.1% m/m, -1.1% y/y (revised from -1.2% y/y)
    FRANKFURT (MNI) – German retail sales rose three times faster in
    September than even the most optimistic analysts had projected, lifting
    turnover to the highest level in nearly a year, the Federal Statistical
    Office reported on Wednesday.
    After a modest recovery in August, sales gained an additional 1.5%
    on the month in real terms to their highest level since October, but
    were still 3.1% lower on the year.
    In nominal terms, turnover jumped 1.9% on the month to give an
    annual decline of -0.7%.
    Food, drink and tobacco sales, for which only annual figures are
    available, were down 3.4% , while non-food sales were 2.9% lower.
    Positive turnover in October lifted the retail PMI above 50 for the
    first time since July, though the reading was still below the average
    for the year to date.
    Expectations of steady employment and low inflation, as well as
    record-low borrowing costs, kept German households in a spending mood
    this month, a GfK Group survey showed.
    Recent labour market developments, however, could begin to weigh on
    spending-propensity in the near term. The ranks of the unemployed
    continued to trend upwards in October, while payroll jobs in September
    fell for the first time since the start of 2010, the Federal Labour
    Office reported on Tuesday.
    Looking ahead, a European Commission survey showed hiring
    expectations falling in all major sectors except retail in October,
    while consumers’ jobless fears fell only slightly from September’s
    28-month high.
    Retailers already seem more pessimistic regarding the coming
    months. An Ifo institute survey showed their business expectations
    falling in October to their lowest level since February 2010, as order
    books continued to erode.
    – Frankfurt bureau: +49-69-720-142; email: twailoo@mni-news.com –
    [TOPICS: MTABLE,M$G$$$,M$X$$$,MAGDS$,M$XDS$,MT$$$$,MTABLE]
    Posted: 31 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT
    GERMANY DATA: September real sa retail sales +1.5% m/m, unadj -3.1% y/y
    – Germany September m/m retail sls above all fcsts (MNI median +0.5%)
    – Germany August m/m retail sales revised down to +0.1% (+0.3%)
    – Germany 3q sa retail sales -0.4% q/q, 2q +0.2%, 1q -0.7%)
    – Germany September sales 3mma (July-September:June-August) +0.1%,
    August -0.2%
    – Please see MNI Mainwire for further details
    Posted: 30 Oct 2012 11:39 PM PDT
    David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital, famous for his ‘shorts’, reckons Iron ore could plummet to $100 next year and has subsequently shorted the commodity.
    He was speaking at a ‘closed’ investment symposium in Dallas yesterday.
    Obviously feels  Chinese industrial growth forecasts are over-estimated…
    That might excite a few AUD/USD bears of which there are plenty!
    More... Business Insider
    Posted: 30 Oct 2012 11:38 PM PDT
    Financial bookies expect FTSE and CAC 40 to open down around -0.2%, DAX down around -0.1%.
    Posted: 30 Oct 2012 11:25 PM PDT
    • Net result from the SNB’s foreign currency positions amounted to CHF 10.3 billion for the first three quarters of the year
    • For the first three quarters of 2012, the stabilisation fund is reporting a profit of USD 565 million
    How’s that peg treating ya?  :)
    Posted: 30 Oct 2012 11:18 PM PDT
    Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!  :)
    Posted: 30 Oct 2012 11:08 PM PDT
    Mon Dieu!!!
    And to think I was seriously considering moving to France :(
    Posted: 30 Oct 2012 11:06 PM PDT
    No change there, we really need something to happen but i have a feeling it’ll all be about NY opening today.
    Month end, won’t help but there’s got to be some whippy action ahead in the equity markets . There’s a slew of European data out this morning and  the  Greece discussion by european FinMins in a conference call today will  be closely monitored, so maybe, just maybe, we’ll start to see some movement again…
    EUR/USD currently sits just under 1.2960 with offers up at 1.2980/00, bids in the 1.2920/30 zone with sell stops just below,  ahead of more bids from sovereigns reported sub 1.2900.
    Posted: 30 Oct 2012 10:57 PM PDT
    For the 1000 NY/1400 GMT cut:
    EUR/USD: 1.2870, 1.2875, 1.2900, 1.2910, 1.2940, 1.2950, 1.3000, 1.3050
    GBP/USD: 1.6100,
    EUR/GBP: 0.8040, 0.8100, 0.8150
    USD/JPY: 79.25, 79.50, 79.60, 79.70, 79.75, 80.00
    AUD/USD: 1.0280, 1.0340, 1.0350
    AUD/JPY: 81.25
    AUD/NZD: 1.2600
    EUR/AUD: 1.2525