“I expect further cheapening of [Italian] bonds”
– Alessandro Giansanti, rate strategist at ING
Italian government bonds fell on Tuesday, pushing three-year and ten-year yields higher before an auction on Thursday, where Rome plans to sell 8.5 billion of debt, as investors are worried the euro zone’s third-largest economy may lose access to financial markets.
“Consumers are more optimistic that business conditions, employment prospects and their financial situations will get better”
– Conference Board Inc.
U.S. consumer confidence rose to an eight month high in December as consumers became more optimistic on the outlook of the country’s economy, the Conference Board Inc. said on Tuesday.
“U.S. data is providing what markets have been looking for in terms of a wider economic improvement and rising employment”
– Witold Bahrke, a senior strategist at PFA Pension A/S
U.K. banks were closed on Tuesday in observance of Boxing Day.
CHF
“With small volume, the markets can move without much effort”
– Benno Galliker, a trader at Luzerner Kantonalbank
Swiss stocks snapped a five-day rally on Tuesday after S&P/CS report showed U.S. house prices fell more than expected.
JPY
“There’s no outstanding catalyst to buy stocks”
– Fumiyuki Nakanishi, a strategist at Tokyo-based SMBC Friend Securities Co.
Japanese stocks dropped on Tuesday amid slow holiday trading. The Nikkei 225 lost 0.46%, or 38.78 points, to 8,440.56, while the broader Topix fell 0.30%, or 2.19, to 724.25.
“The question on most traders’ minds isn’t whether the euro/dollar will rise or fall, but whether it will actually survive the year intact”
– GFT Forex (based on Reuters)
The outlook for EUR/USD is from neutral to positive, since the indicators suggest a rather calm day for the pair.
“The upcoming year is shaping up as a do-or-die year for the euro”
– GFT Forex (based on Reuters)
The Euro is expected to keep on depreciating relative to the Japanese Yen.
“Sterling is going to benefit immensely as a new breed of safe haven. The out-performance of the pound is a sign of bigger things to come”
– Swissquote Bank SA (based on Bloomberg)
The immediate resistance for the Cable is situated at 1.5779, while a higher level is at 1.6165.
“[Japanese] industrial production seems set to expand for the next two months, but whether it can continue to grow beyond the short term is uncertain”
– Bank of Japan
While being capped by a tough resistance at 78.00/25 the nearterm bias for the pair is bearish which has been confirmed by a dip below 78.00 level.
“People are going to be quite cautious in terms of trading events. It’s going to be a quiet week”
– Deutsche Bank AG (based on Bloomberg)
Correction lower might extend even lower while USD/CHF is being capped by a resistance line at 0.9399.
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