Japan wins the forex ugly contest June 8, 2010 IT IS testament to the uncertainty of the times that the yen, the currency of a country with public debt at over 200 per cent of GDP, is still viewed as a “safe haven.” But as CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson says: “Currencies are vying for the title in battle of the uglies” and the yen [...]
DOW-GOLD RATIO COULD HIT PARITY June 8, 2010 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT LAST Friday’s surprise commentary from Peter Szijjarto, a spokesman for the new Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, triggered yet another selling frenzy in the euro. He noted that the Hungarian economy was in a “very grave situation” and said that the spectre of a default “isn’t an exaggeration”. Although Hungary [...]
THE TIPSTER June 8, 2010 THE recent recovery in the oil price has seen the Canadian dollar strengthen off its lows against the US dollar due to the loonie’s high sensitivity to Canadian oil exports to the US. A continued rebound in the oil price could well see US dollar-Canadian dollar fall towards trend line support around C$1.0400 and C$1.0330. [...]
Global airline equities are cleared for take-off June 7, 2010 THE global airline industry is set to take off this year, provided the economic recovery holds up, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), an association of 230 airlines. IATA has revised its 2010 profit forecast for the industry up to $2.5bn, having formerly predicted a $2.8bn loss. It says that low oil prices, [...]
US JOBS DATA CASTS DOUBT ON RECOVERY June 7, 2010 CFD MARKET STRATEGIST, GFT FRIDAY saw the release of the US non-farm payroll number for May. Following last month’s positive news, with 290,000 jobs added, the consensus this time was for an increase of around 520,000. Optimism grew as we came closer to the release and the “whisper number” crept up, with some estimates at [...]
Stormy season sparks natural gas bull move June 7, 2010 IT HAS been a difficult six weeks or so for the energy markets. Whether it was the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, continued concerns about growth in emerging markets or no end in sight to the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, investors were shunning riskier assets such as oil in favour of safe havens [...]
CFD ANALYST PICKS June 7, 2010 TECHNICAL STRATEGIST JOEL KRUGER My pick: Buy the FTSE 100 at 4,900 Expertise: Technical analysis Average time frame of trades: 5-10 days Markets have come under intense selling pressure in recent weeks as investors fretted over the outlook for the global economy. The FTSE looks like it could retest recent lows of 4,900 in the [...]
FTSE slides over euro debt worries June 7, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index fell yesterday, with energy and mining stocks easing along with commodities on demand worries as downbeat US jobs data last week and euro debt concerns sapped investor confidence. The FTSE 100 ended down 56.94 points, or 1.1 per cent at 5,069.06, marginally off the session low of 5,040.26, having shed 1.6 [...]
Wall St falls to seven month low June 7, 2010 US STOCKS fell yesterday, taking the S&P 500 to its lowest close in seven months, as industrials and technology shares fell and investors stayed on their heels after last week’s payrolls figure discouraged buyers. The Nasdaq fared the worst as investors unloaded positions in the most liquid large-cap technology shares. Research in Motion fell 5.2 [...]
US-led losses likely to knock European markets June 6, 2010 THE Dow suffered from its third-worst sell-off of the year on Friday following a disappointing jobs report, and the losses extended after European markets closed. The blue chip US index even closed below the psychologically sensitive level of 10,000, and UK And European markets will feel the follow-on effects of that this morning. GFT is [...]