- Asian session: The yen reached its strongest level in a week
Market news
Asian session: The yen reached its strongest level in a week
01:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, m/m July +0.3% +0.4% +0.2%
01:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, y/y July +4.4% +4.4% +4.2%
05:00 Japan Construction Orders, y/y July +4.6%
05:00 Japan Housing Starts, y/y July -0.2% -10.0%
The yen reached its strongest level in a week after Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy delayed seeking a sovereign bailout for his country, spurring demand for haven assets amid Europe’s fiscal turmoil. Rajoy said yesterday after a meeting in Madrid with French President Francois Hollande that his nation won’t seek a second bailout until European leaders make aid conditions clear. Spain locked in as much as 100 billion euros ($125 billion) in international aid for banks last month.
Japan’s currency is set to gain versus most of its major peers this week as three Spanish regions said they will need emergency loans.
Moody’s Investors Service said its review of Spain’s debt rating will continue through September and reiterated the risk of a possible downgrade. Moody’s review of Spain’s credit score, which started on June 13, will probably continue through September, the New York based ratings firm said in a statement yesterday. The company reduced Spain to its lowest investment grade level on June 13, cutting it three steps to Baa3 from A3.
The dollar was supported as investors weigh whether Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will signal new stimulus when he speaks today in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded above $1.2500.
GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of $1.5780-00.
USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair fell below Y78.50, refreshing week‘s low.
Core-European data also starts at 0600GMT with German retail sales data, followed at 0700GMT by Spain retail sales. At 0900GMT, EMU and also Italian flash HICP data for August is due, along with the EMU unemployment rate for July. Also at 0900GMT, ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure is due to participate in a plenary session entitled "United We Stand", taking place in France. UK data gets things started at 0600GMT with the Nationwide measure of UK House Prices for August. t 1400GMT and providing the main focus of Friday's session, is the much-awaited speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who speaks at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Jackson Hole symposium with the subject, "Monetary Policy Since the Crisis." Factory new orders are also due at 1400GMT and are forecast to rise 2.0% in August, as durable goods orders were already reported up 4.2% on a sharp rise in transportation orders. Nondurable goods orders are expected to rise only slightly. Later US data sees the 1900GMT release of Agriculture Prices data. US data for Friday starts at 1345GMT with the MNI Chicago Report, which is followed at 1355GMT by the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment.
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