“We consider that French banks will be able to maintain their lending activity in their core businesses”
– Standard & Poor’s
Standard & Poor’s cut credit ratings of four French banks, a move expected by markets after the credit agency downgraded France’s top notch sovereign credit rating on January 13.
“It’s all about the negotiations of Greek debt”
– Mike Ryan, chief investment strategist at UBS Wealth Management America
U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as investors debated whether a threeweek rally in equities was warranted.
“[Government debt] shows the unsustainable level of spending this country built up over the past few years”
– A Treasury spokesperson
U.K. budget deficit decreased to 10.8 billion pounds in December from 15.1 billion in November, said the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday.
CHF
“Further delays in [Greece’s] negotiations [with private bondholders] would lead to renewed nervousness on the financial markets”
– Anja Hochberg, head of investment strategy at Credit Suisse Group AG
Swiss stocks rose modestly on Tuesday amid Greece’s negotiations with private bondholders.
JPY
“The BOJ sees European credit crunch as the biggest risk”
– Naka Matsuzawa, chief investment strategist at Nomura Securities
The Bank of Japan downgraded Japan’s growth outlook but kept monetary policy on hold on Tuesday as strong yen and weak global demand weighed on exporters.
“The euro will continue to be under pressure as global investors shift money out of the euro zone and in favor U.S. markets”
– Nomura (based on WSJ)
EUR/USD is attempting to consolidate above a key level at 1.30.
“At present, Europe’s debt problem poses the biggest risk for the global economy, including Japan’s”
– Masaaki Shirakawa, BoJ Governor (based on Reuters)
The Euro – Japanese Yen currency pair has effortlessly pierced through a resistance zone at 100.45/77 and is now headed toward 102.55/60.
“There is a risk of a negative [UK] GDP number and this could raise the risk of substantial QE down the track”
– CIBC (based on Reuters)
The Cable is now trying to break through a formidable resistance located at 1.5635.
“Capital flows are much more important for the yen than trade flows”
– Societe Generale (based on CNBC)
USD/JPY currency couple has penetrated a number of resistances and is anticipated to continue rising.
“The Swiss franc is still highly valued, but it should depreciate further in the future”
– SNB (based on Bloomberg)
Following a dip down to 0.9250/02 USD/CHF is expected to recover, however, a close above 0.9395 is needed to restore bullish momentum.
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