Forex Market Updates & Commentary

USDJPY tests 100 day MA and 50% retracement
Existing Home Sales come out better at 5.36 MM
Platform of the week training TODAY at 4pm
Existing Home Sales expected at 5.22 MM
The NY Morning Forex Commentary is available for viewing
Eurozone Industrial New Orders rose 2.1% in December
British Bankers Assoc. Mortgage Approvals
BOE voted 3-5-1 to keep rate at 0.5%, bond plan at 200B
Swiss PPI rose 0.1% in January , as expected
French CPI down 0.2% in January
2-23 Economic Calendar
USD/JPY Lower as Risk Unwinds - Somewhat
Aussie construction work worse at 0.8%, wage price index slightly better at 1.0%
Aussie data at 7:30 (eastern)
Japanese trade balance .1918 T

USDJPY tests 100 day MA and 50% retracement

Posted: 23 Feb 2011 07:13 AM PST

Existing Home Sales come out better at 5.36 MM

Posted: 23 Feb 2011 07:01 AM PST

The month supply comes in at 7.6 months. This is good.
Short Sales are 37% of sales.
All cash sales climb to 32%.
Sales are at an 8 mo. high.

Average price falls to $206,700 so the sales increase as price comes down
Median Price also falls sharply to $158,800 from $168,800
Since 32% of sales were for cash, this suggests blocks of homes may have been bought at distressed prices. The demand seems to be in the lower end of the market. The thought is likely that more speculators are buying homes that they can later rent out.

Earlier today, mortgage Applications rose by 13.2% after declining by -9.5% and -5.5% over the last two weeks. The Purchase index rose by 5.5%. The Refinancing Index rose by 17.8%. The average rate fell to 5% from 5.12%. This is down from a high of 5.14% two weeks ago.

If we see refinancings increase, it could see be a signal that more people are being hired -especially at the higher rates (north of 5%).

The housing changes proposed by Geithner a few weeks ago is likely to prevent certain people from buying. Increased foreclosures also points toward more rentals. As a result, the rental market will likely remain robust.

Platform of the week training TODAY at 4pm

Posted: 23 Feb 2011 07:01 AM PST

Platform of the week training TODAY at 4pm - FXDD AutoChartist will be covered. Register here

Existing Home Sales expected at 5.22 MM

Posted: 23 Feb 2011 07:00 AM PST

Month Supply was 8.1 months last month. I will be watching that for a clue as to the direction of the industry. Remember weather was horrible in January

The NY Morning Forex Commentary is available for viewing

Posted: 23 Feb 2011 06:54 AM PST

Eurozone Industrial New Orders rose 2.1% in December

Posted: 23 Feb 2011 02:07 AM PST

EZ Industrial New Orders rose by 2.1% in December, a decline of 0.8% was expected.

Eur/Usd has gained about 10 points on data, currently trading at 1.3710.

British Bankers Assoc. Mortgage Approvals

Posted: 23 Feb 2011 01:37 AM PST

BBA Mortgage Approvals came in at 28,900, a shade below the 29,000 expected.

This number has not affect on Gbp. Gbp/Usd currently at 1.6255.

BOE voted 3-5-1 to keep rate at 0.5%, bond plan at 200B

Posted: 23 Feb 2011 01:34 AM PST

Dale joined Sentance and Weale in vote for interest rate increase, as the market expected.

Gbp/Usd rose to 1.6270, currently at 1.6250.

Swiss PPI rose 0.1% in January , as expected

Posted: 23 Feb 2011 12:47 AM PST

Swiss PPI for January came in at 0.1%, as expected.

Usd/Chf trades at .9475 and Eur/Chf at 1.2855.

French CPI down 0.2% in January

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 10:34 PM PST

French CPI m/m came in at -0.2%, weaker than the -0.1% expected.

No affect on Eur/Usd as the pair trades at 1.3695.

2-23 Economic Calendar

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 08:45 PM PST

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USD/JPY Lower as Risk Unwinds - Somewhat

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 07:32 PM PST

We have seen risk trades unwind and a flight to quality over the last 24hrs on the back of geopolitical turmoil (North Africa/Middle East) and a major earthquake in New Zealand. However, the dynamic has changed somewhat as we see the EUR/USD rally on rate increases being priced in following hawkish comments out of Europe and that USD sell off seems to be affecting the USD/JPY pair which has moved down to the 50% retracement of the latest move and coincidentally the 100 day moving average. It will be interesting to see if the pair can find support at this level, even if the USD were to move lower against the Euro.

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