Daily Market Commentary - 9th February 2012
Daily commentary
The Australian dollar, and its entourage of industrialized currencies, oscillated within narrow ranges during yesterday’s ho-hum trading session. The island continent’s currency, bereft of any domestic economic reports, fell victim to investors’ broader battles between safe haven flows and demand for yield.
The handful of key economic reports released Wednesday included Germany’s narrower than expected December trade balance, Switzerland’s unchanged January unemployment rate and Canada’s down tick in December housing starts. Notably, Germany’s trade surplus fell from €14.9bln to €13.9bln for the final month of 2011 due to a fall in exports that outpaced a drop in imports. The results were very close to estimates from market participants who forecasted a surplus of €14.0bln, and as such failed to cause a major splash in asset prices.
The otherwise dearth of economic news globally allowed market participants to trim their positions as they looked forward towards today’s European Central Bank and Bank of England rate decisions. Both central banks are expected to stand pat on their interest rate policies, though the BoE is expected to increase its quantitative easing program by £50bln to £325bln.
Other notable economic releases on today’s schedule include Japan’s consumer confidence level, China’s CPI rates and the U.S.’ jobless claims level.
Key Releases
| Indicator | Actual | Forecast | Previous |
|---|
| CH Jan Jobless Rate | 3.4% | 3.5% | 3.3% |
| DE Dec Trade Balance | €13.9B | €14.0B | €14.9B |
| CA Jan Housing Starts | 197.9K | 192.0K | 199.9K |
