Market Review – 31/03/2010 22:15GMT
Dollar and yen tumble on month-end broad-based selling
The single currency was under pressure initially in Asian morning and hit an intra-day low at 1.3384 in Asian mid-day before staging a rebound. Later in Europe, the EU February unemployment rate came in at 10% versus 9.9% in previous month, but this economic data played no real part in price action today. The pair rallied in European session on active short-covering and reached an intra-day high of 1.3549 in NY mid-day after worse-then-expected U.S. ADP March employment data came in at -23k versus +40k forecast.
The yen weakened sharply against all of its major counterparts, touching a three-month low against the buck, as signs the global economic recovery is gathering steam dampened demand for Japan’s currency as a refuge. The greenback extended Tuesday’s rise in Asian morning against the yen as speculators closed yen long positions across the board before quarter-end and Easter holiday. However, worse-than-expected ADP employment data in U.S, briefly pressured the pair to 92.85 at NY opening. However, renewed buying interest emerged there n price rebounded to three-month high at 93.64 in NY morning, just shy of the 2010 top made in January at 93.78 before retreating on profit-taking.
Versus the Swiss franc, the greenback weakened on active cross-buying in franc. The USD/CHF made a top at 1.0684 in Asian morning but tumbled in Europe and later in NY on the disappointing ADP jobs data. Price eventually fell below March’s low of 1.0507 to 1.0489 in NY mid-day before rebounding on short covering.
On data front, U.S. employment in March decreased by 23,000 workers versus a gain of 40,000 worker forecasted by economists, data from ADP Employer Services showed on Wednesday. Business activity in the U.S. expanded in March for a sixth straight month. The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said that its business barometer fell to 58.8, lower than anticipated, from a February reading of 62.6 that was the highest since April 2005.
Economic data to be released on Thursday include: Japan capex, tankan big manufacturing, Swiss PMI, Germany manufacturing PMI, E.U. manufacturing PMI, U.K. manufacturing PMI, U.S. jobless claims and ISM manufacturing