Forex Trading

Currency markets took little notice as US President Barack Obama announced that he will nominate current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to another term when the central bank chief’s term in office. The final revision of Germany’s second-quarter GDP figures and Switzerland’s Employment figures top the calendar in European hours.

Key Overnight Developments

• New Zealand’s Inflation Outlook Bolsters Case for Interest Rate Cuts
• Euro, British Pound Yield Flat Result as Bears Fail to Keep Momentum
• US President Obama to Nominate Fed Chief Ben Bernanke To 2nd Term

Critical Levels



The Euro tried lower in overnight trading, testing as low as 1.4274, but rebounded just above the 1.43 mark late into the session to yield an effectively flat result ahead of the opening bell in Europe. The British Pound followed a nearly identical dynamic, tipping a low of 1.6383 before running back up to 1.6420, the same place where it started after the close in New York.

Asia Session Highlights



The Reserve Bank of New Zealand released the Inflation Expectation report, revealing that consumer prices are expected to remain below the 2% target level in a year from the third quarter but rebound to 2.3% into the second half of 2011. Although 1-year GDP growth projections turned positive for the first time in six months, wages are set to grow at a record-low 1.7% in the same period and 2.3% in 24 months, the lowest estimate in over a decade. Forecasts of rising unemployment are surely the culprit here: unemployment expectations were revised higher yet again, now calling for the jobless rate to hit 7.2% by September 2010 and 6.7% by the same time in the following year.

As we have previously argued, the likelihood of a low-inflation environment in the near to medium term gives the Reserve Bank of New Zealand scope to lower interest rates. Such a move would help to decouple the local currency from overall trends in risky assets, helping to trim the formidable current account shortfall as well as offer some additional stimulus at a time when the government has cancelled additional fiscal measures amid concerns about the nation’s public debt, both of which recently forced downgrades of new Zealand’s sovereign credit rating by both Fitch and Moody’s.

Currency markets took little notice as US President Barack Obama announced that he will nominate current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to another term when the central bank chief’s term expires in January. Obama had taken atypically long to make the announcement, causing some market-watchers to suspect he will look to install someone closer to the administration into the key position. On balance, the move points to continuity in US monetary policy for the time being, though little can be reasonably assumed given the extraordinary measures taken by Bernanke and company in recent months to check the fallout from the credit crisis that erupted last year and the global recession that followed.

Euro Session: What to Expect



The final revision of Germany’s second-quarter Gross Domestic Product is expected to confirm that output grew 0.3% in the three months through June, the first positive result after four consecutive quarters of losses. The annual rate of contraction is also expected to be confirmed at -5.9%, the first improvement in the year-on-year metric since the end of 2007. Despite the seemingly positive tone of the headline figure, the comparative picture of German growth is far from favorable. A survey of economists conducted by Bloomberg suggests that the Euro Zone’s largest economy, and by extension the region as a whole, will underperform most industrialized countries at least through the end of next year. The most pronounced differentials are seen against commodity-linked counties (Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) as well as the United States. A slower pace of economic growth will mean that Europe lags behind the curve as central banks begin to raise interest rates at the onset of the global recovery, a prospect that bodes ill for the single currency.

In Switzerland, Employment is expected to have contracted at an annual pace of -0.1% in the three months to June, the first negative reading since the third quarter of 2003. The unemployment rate hit 3.7% in July, the highest in over three years, and official government forecasts suggest that it will top 5% by the end of 2010. Job losses will trim on incomes and discourage consumption, weighing on overall economic growth. Against this background, UBS will release the July edition of its monthly Consumption Indicator, a measure intended to foreshadow spending trends and thereby overall economic growth by approximately 3-4 months. The metric rose for the first time in three months in June, but UBS cautioned that the future environment “remains difficult” with unemployment “likely to increase significantly in the coming months”.

Written by Ilya Spivak, Currency Analyst
Article Source - Currency Markets Quiet as Obama Says Bernanke to Be Nominated for 2nd Term (Euro Open)