Dollar Gains And Asian Stocks Decline Ahead Of Fed Meeting

The all-important 2 day Fed meeting is due to start. Meetings outcomes and comments are able to swing the global markets in either direction. The Asian session saw low volume as investors stay on the sidelines.

Mixed news from China as new home prices moved up 6 per cent last month, which means that the chances of a lowered interest rate there are reduced as well as the chance of implementation of easing and stimulus measures. The Chinese are dealing with a housing price bubble. 69 out of 70 of China’s major cities saw a hike in property prices from the same time last year.

Stocks
Stocks across Asia declined with the Shanghai Composite down 0.56 per cent following the housing price data. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 0.59 per cent. The Nikkei 225 in Japan lost 0.69 oer cent even with the Yen trading lower against the dollar. In Australia, the ASX 200 dropped 1.21 per cent after the minutes of the Bank of Australia meeting were released, giving cause for monetary easing.

Forex
The dollar was up against its counterpart currencies. It was up 0.37 per cent against the JPY, 0.29 per cent higher against the AUD, 0.11 per cent higher against the EUR and 0.20 per cent against the British Pound.

Commodities
In a tentative trading session the metals were lower with gold down 0.23 per cent, and silver down 0.12 per cent. Crude oil was up, near its yearly highs as Middle East tensions pushed up the price of Crude by 017 per cent. Natural gas revered its warmer weather gains to drop 0.27 per cent.

What to watch today:
The Fed meeting is the focal point for investors, analysts and even Governments. Traders will buy or sell positions ahead of the meeting according to their sentiment. In the meantime, Europe data will include CPI and PPR data from the U.K., which is expected to have a positive impact on the GBP and then ZEW economic sentiment from Germany. Also out of U.S.: CPI and housing data. Expect a highly volatile trading day with lots of opportunities for the keen-eyed binary options trader.