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5 Jan 2015
Asia Recap: EUR under heavy pressure
FXStreet (Bali) - A lively start of the week in the FX arena, with the USD surging across the board, while the European currencies (EUR, GBP) and the Kiwi under-performed.
The main highlight of the Asian session was the early collapse in EUR/USD, printing its cheapest level at 1.1849 after a major cascade of sell stops below 1.20 led to a sharp sell-off, which quickly stabilized around the 1.1950 as liquidity improved. Headlines over the weekend that Germany is prepared to allow Greece to leave the Eurozone if an anti-austerity govt wins the elections weighed in the Euro.
The antipodean currencies were also heavy amid the supreme dominance of the US Dollar across the board, with AUD/USD registering a fresh multi-year low at 0.8050, while NZD/USD saw sharper losses, threatening the 0.76 handle, with lowest so far at 0.7619. As per USD/JPY, it failed to gather much upward momentum, with offers distributed between 120.60/80 disallowing further progress. Lastly, GBP/USD was also a big mover, being dragged drastically lower in sync with the initial Euro down-move, before settling around 1.5280. In the commodity space, Oil futures dipped over 2% with funds main suspect sellers.
Key headlines
Germany sees Grexit as manageable event
Fed's Mester: Pace of tightening more important than liftoff
Fed's Rosengren: Low inflation and wage growth urges patience
Large drop in Euro share of reserves - Nomura
Australia: Contraction in conditions across the manufacturing sector
Japan Nomura/ JMMA Manufacturing Purchasing Manager Index remains at 52 in December
The main highlight of the Asian session was the early collapse in EUR/USD, printing its cheapest level at 1.1849 after a major cascade of sell stops below 1.20 led to a sharp sell-off, which quickly stabilized around the 1.1950 as liquidity improved. Headlines over the weekend that Germany is prepared to allow Greece to leave the Eurozone if an anti-austerity govt wins the elections weighed in the Euro.
The antipodean currencies were also heavy amid the supreme dominance of the US Dollar across the board, with AUD/USD registering a fresh multi-year low at 0.8050, while NZD/USD saw sharper losses, threatening the 0.76 handle, with lowest so far at 0.7619. As per USD/JPY, it failed to gather much upward momentum, with offers distributed between 120.60/80 disallowing further progress. Lastly, GBP/USD was also a big mover, being dragged drastically lower in sync with the initial Euro down-move, before settling around 1.5280. In the commodity space, Oil futures dipped over 2% with funds main suspect sellers.
Key headlines
Germany sees Grexit as manageable event
Fed's Mester: Pace of tightening more important than liftoff
Fed's Rosengren: Low inflation and wage growth urges patience
Large drop in Euro share of reserves - Nomura
Australia: Contraction in conditions across the manufacturing sector
Japan Nomura/ JMMA Manufacturing Purchasing Manager Index remains at 52 in December