EN Gains As G7 Statement Clarified, Investors Jittery Ahead Of G20

Binary options Traders this morning to keep eye out for industrial production data in the Europe, and US retail sales data later today.

A nice turanournd for the Yen last night in Asian trading. This was after a misinterpreted comment about interest rates which was clarified by a spokesperson from the G7. He said the G7 has concern over the dramatic moves seen by the yen of late. However the interest rate in Japan would not be targeted by any new fiscal policy. Meanwhile, investors keep an eye open for the BoJ Thursday policy meeting. The positive impact on the Yen was instantly visible, and the USD was lower against the Japanese currency. USDJPY slid to 93.32, a 0.14 per cent fall.

FX

At the same time the dollar slipped against the EUR with the EUR/USD reaching 1.375 a 0.17 per cent gain. The USD was also valued at 6 month highs against the GBP with GBP/USD sliding to 1.5643, a 0.11 per cent decline. This comes ahead of the Bank of England inflation report later today which is expected to cut growth forecasts. The USD gained against the Swissy with the USD/CHF touching 0.9810 which is 0.10per cent gain.

The dollar fell against the CAD (a rise of 0.03% per cent to 1.0023), NZD (a rise of 0.15 per cent to 0.8417) and AUD equivalents (a rise of 0.36per cent to 1.0344). The USDX dollar index which follows the USD against 6 other major currencies overall dropped to 80.00 a decrease of 0.12per cent.

Stocks

Eurozone stocks fell this morning as investors remain nervous ahead of the G20 meeting to begin on Friday. It’s thought that meeting would host talk of currency devaluations. The EURO STOXX 50 inched downwards by 0.16per cent, French CAC 40 slid by 0.20per cent and the German DAX 30 edged down by 0.10 per cent.

Asian Stocks mostly gained today in spite of the strengthening Yen although Japanese shares declined as the Yen got stronger. The Nikkei 225 Index slid 0.74%. Australian stocks rose after the positive earnings reports. Australian S&P/ASX 200 gained 1per cent off the back of earnings reports. Australian senitinent was at its highest level since December 2010 at 108.3 points.

Japans CPI index for Jan read -0.2per cent which was positive against expectations of -0.3per cent. This compares against a reading of -0.7per cent in December. Hong Kong Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite still closed for New Year public holiday.

Commodities

Oil futures saw a slight rise during Asian Trading today following the OPEC demand forecast for 2013. Demand was raised to 29.8 million barrels a day, an increase of 100,000 estimated barrel a day in Jan. OPEC commented that China as second largest consumer of Oil behind the US is driving the demand.

China who is also the largest consumer of Copper in the World accounts for nearly 0.40% of consumption. Copper inched higher in European early session trading today although only slightly as investors remain cautious ahead of G20. On COMEX copper futures for Mar were trading at $3.750 a pound this morning a rise of 0.2per cent since the previous day.

Gold swinging between minor gains and losses in this morning’s European trading. Gold futures for Apr trading at $1.648.75 troy ounce. Traders cautious to buy gold after a weak technical analysis points to a negative forecast for gold.