Haruihiko Kuroda Named As New BoJ Governor: Busy Overnight Trading

Japan announced the nomaination of Haruihiko Kuroda as governor for the Bank of Japan. In response, Japanese stocks and indexes soar in Asian trading. Even though the appointment was widely expected, the official announcement pushed the Asian Markets upwards. Kuroda is currently head of the Asian Development Bank; he is a very popular choice as he is seen to have a very proactive stance to monetary policy and regards aggressive easing policies as necessary for growth. The Japanese Governments stance towards monetary policy has created a sharp devaluing of the JPY currency, and has seen a near-to 15per cent dip against the Dollar since Nov 2012.

Meanwhile strong data came from the US which shows a form of recovery. Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Fed Reserve commented that interest rate increases of late indicate that the economy is strengthening. A rise in Durable Goods Orders data for January and an increasing in pending home sales reaffirmed his comments.

Stocks
US stocks rose yesterday in the aftermath of Ben Bernanke’s testimony and positive US data. The DJIA finished up by 1.26 per cent, S&P 500 closed up 1.27 per cent and the NASDAQ finished up 1.04 per cent.

Asian stocks finished broadly higher, with the Nikkei 225 as the overnight superstar closing up 2.71 per cent. The Hong Kong Hang Seng finished up 1.44 per cent and the Australia ASX/S&P 200 up 1.34 per cent.

Eurozone stocks were also higher in European trading this morning, as positive results of the Italian auction bond shadowed the political instability. The EURO STOXX 50 rose by 0.58 per cent, the French CAC 40 rose to 0.60 percent and the German DAX 30 climbed by 0.79 per cent. Meanwhile, hopes that an Italian coalition government can be formed fade further away.

Forex
A busy evening for the JPY with the USD/JPY pair moving up by 0.20per cent on the back of the Kuroda BOJ nomination. The AUD/USD also moved up by 0.36per cent in a recovery from a 3 month low, as investor sentiment improved following the success of the Italian bond auction. The pair reached 1.0286 in the Afternoon Asian trading session. The EUR/USD held its ground this morning, hitting 1.3162. Meanwhile the NZD rose against the USD pushed by positive confidence data from New Zealand. The pair touched 0.8324 in the afternoon Asian trading session.

Commodities
Investors were staying away from the commodities market yesterday. Gold climbed 0.24 per cent , and silver was up by 0.42 per cent boosted by news about Australia’s mining boom. The Crude oil dropped by 0.13 per cent and Natural Gas climbed up by 0.89 per cent on forecasts of cold weather.

Today’s Events
Later today US GDP figures and Jobless data are due for release, it is anticipated that they will show a change for the better which should push the value of the USD. Also watch for the CPI data coming out of the eurozone and Germany, which until recently has indicated that the latter is nearing recession.