Currency Overview Good Momentum Help The Majors Advance In The Asian Session

Overall, the dollar gave up some of its gains in the Asian session. The majors moved on average 50 pips, which is something good for this time of the day, but only the euro managed to retrace a significant part of the declines seen yesterday. Ahead, the calendar has a number of releases scheduled during the European session, but none of those are important.

The Euro (EUR/USD) bounced off the 20-day moving average in the last day of trading, and declined 80 pips. However, the euro moved very strong in the Asian session tonight and gained 60 pips, almost paring the declines seen in the last day of trading. Additionally, in the few last days of trading the euro had a real range of 130 pips.

The Pound (GBP/USD) effectively plunged in the last day of trading, as another U.K. bank failed. From the intra-day high to the low, the pound plunged 440 pips and touched lowest value since the last few days of January. In addition, the pound trades just above the 1.35 area support area, which is the lowest value touched since 1985.

In the United Kingdom, house prices again took a fall according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. The report has shown that 78.3 percent of surveyors reported a decline rather than a rise in house price in February. Housing sales in the U.K. have dropped to their lowest level since at least 1978. Retail sales in the United Kingdom declined 1.8 percent, from February of 2008. Sales in the U.K. have fallen back after Januarys clearance driven improvement. Food sales have shown slower growth while non-food sales fell further below the year earlier low

The Aussie (AUD/USD) looked like a lost cause, until it managed to break above the 20-day moving average. The pair failed again to do so, and tumbled 100 pips during the rest of the trading day. The aussie struggles to break above the 20-day moving average for about a month.

The National Australia Bank released the business confidence report this evening. Business confidence in Australia has fallen to -22. This level was last seen in June of 1992 as this level follows the worst reading in the surveys 20 year history. The National Australia Bank is expecting the Reserve Bank to cut the interest rate to 2.00 percent by the end of 2009 in order to boost confidence in the business sector.

The Cad (USD/CAD) broke briefly above the 1.3000 resistance area during the U.S. open, but gave back most of its gains later in the day. In the Asian session, the cad extended the decline and fell another 45 pips. Also yesterday, the cad touched the higher value since September 2004.

The Swissy (USD/CHF) traded trapped between the 20 and 100-day moving averages in the last day of trading. In addition, even though it had some attempts to break higher or lower, most of the time the swissy moved side-ways with the neutral pivot point (1.1590).

The Yen (Usd/Yen) advanced nearly 100 pips in the overnight session, but during the U.S. session, the pair developed a tight range. In the Asian session, the yen traded within the same range, unable to break anywhere definitely.