Daily forex news | 4 December 2009 - 9:00 GMT

Gold fell for a second day, paring a weekly advance, on speculation that signs of a slowing recovery will boost the dollar and as record prices deter investors. Silver, platinum and palladium also slumped. Gold for February delivery fell 1.2 percent to $1,204 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the dollar’s value, rose 0.2 percent to 74.80, paring this year’s loss to 8 percent.
The yen headed for its biggest weekly decline in four months against New Zealand’s dollarbefore a U.S. report forecast to show the nation’s job losses slowed, spurring demand for higher-yielding assets. The yen traded at 63.84 per New Zealand dollar as of 7:48 a.m. in London from 63.70 in New York yesterday, when it declined to 64.11, the lowest level since Nov. 25. The currency has fallen 3.6 percent this week, the most since Aug. 7. It was at 132.99 per euro from 132.87, and traded at 88.16 per dollar from 88.26.
The euro was set for a second weekly gain versus the dollar on speculation a European Central Bank official speaking today will signal further reductions in its emergency stimulus program. The yen was poised to snap a five-week gain against the dollar as Japanese officials said the currency should weaken. The euro bought $1.5087 from $1.5053 yesterday, and has risen 0.7 percent this week. It was at 90.82 pence from 91.01 pence, leaving it unchanged in the week.

Resistance & support

EURUSD GBPUSD USDJPY USDCHF 1.5140 1.6790 89.10 1.0060 1.5090 1.6720 88.40 1.0020 1.5060 1.6610 87.80 0.9990 1.5020 1.6530 86.90 0.9960 1.4980 1.6460 86.50 0.9900

Economic calendar

Date Time (GMT) Currency Impact   Actual Forecast Previous Fri Dec 4 8:15am CHF CPI m/m 0.2% 0.1% 0.6%  12:00pm CAD Employment Change 15.3K -43.2K  12:00pm CAD Unemployment Rate 8.6% 8.6% 1:30pm USD Non-Farm Employment Change -119K -190K 1:30pm USD Unemployment Rate 10.2% 10.2% 1:30pm USD Average Hourly Earnings m/m 0.2% 0.3% 3:00pm CAD Ivey PMI 60.4 61.2 3:00pm USD Factory Orders m/m 0.1% 0.9%

Daily forex news | 3 December 2009 - 9:00 GMT

The yen weakened for a third day against the euro and the dollar declined as signs the global economy is recovering boosted demand for higher-yielding assets. Japan’s currency slid against all 16 of its most-traded counterparts tracked by Bloomberg before reports forecast to show European retail sales fell at a slower pace and U.S. service industries expanded. The yen depreciated to 132.77 per euro as of 7:17 a.m. in London from 131.46 yesterday in New York, and 132.78 earlier, the weakest level since Nov. 24. Japan’s currency also fell to 87.87 per dollar from 87.38, after sliding to 87.92, the weakest level since Nov. 25. The yen rose to 84.83 to the dollar on Nov. 27, the highest since July 1995.
The euro rose on speculation the European Central Bank will announce plans to scale back emergency lending while keeping its main interest rate at a record low at a meeting today in Frankfurt. The euro rose to $1.5112 from $1.5044. Retail sales in the 16-nation euro region fell 2.4 percent in October from a year earlier after a 3.6 percent drop the previous month, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists. The European Union statistics office releases its report at 11 a.m. Brussels time. 
Gold fluctuated after rising to a record for a third day as investors sought protection against the prospect of currency debasement and inflation, spurring demand for the metal as an alternative asset. Spot gold rallied 0.9 percent to a record $1,226.56 an ounce before declining as much as 0.3 percent to $1,212.49. The metal traded up 0.3 percent at $1,218.78 at 2:35 p.m. in Singapore. Gold for February delivery in New York also climbed to an all-time high of $1,227.50, up 1.2 percent and last traded at $1,219.70.

Daily forex news | 2 December 2009 - 9:30 GMT

The yen fell after Nikkei reported Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama as saying the currency’s strength can’t be left as is. The yen dropped 0.6 percent to 87.17 to the dollar as of 7:31 a.m. in London. It declined 0.5 percent to 131.43 per euro.
The yen slid against all 16 of its most-traded peers, including the Australian dollar. Hatoyama made the comment in a speech to former lawmakers in Tokyo, the Nikkei newspaper said on its English news service. The so-called Aussie rose as gold climbed to a record. Australia’s dollar advanced 0.7 percent to 80.71 yen and was little changed at 92.52 U.S. cents.
The dollar traded near its lowest level in almost 16 months versus the euro and was little changed at $1.5077, after earlier trading as weak as $1.5103.
   
Gold rose to a record for a second day, advancing to $1,215.85 an ounce.

Annual Report-2009: World Bank approves $500 million for regaining economic stability

ISLAMABAD (December 01 2009): The World Bank has approved $500 million to support the government programme to regain and maintain economic stability and steer the economy back onto a higher growth path. According to the WB Annual Report-2009, the Bank focused on helping South Asian countries cope with the impact of the global economic crisis. In Pakistan, the Bank approved $500 million to help the government put the economy back on track for attaining the higher growth target.

The WB approved $250 million for the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), now active in 119 out of Pakistan's 134 districts. Since 2000, the programme has facilitated the formation of 80,000 community organisations and provided 1.9 million micro credit loans, executed 16,000 community infrastructure schemes and given training support to 232,000 people in enterprise development skills.

The Bank is also focused on helping South Asian countries cope with the impact of the global economic crisis. To help people rebuild for earthquake survivors in Pakistan, the government formed the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority, and, with the Bank's financial and technical support, launched an ambitious $1.5 billion owner-driven rural housing rebuilding programme.

The salient features of this programme were technical assistance to homeowners and inspection of the reconstruction at various stages to ensure that seismic resistant designs provided by the programme were being followed. Such house-to-house assistance and inspection entailed a mammoth logistical operation for reaching out to the grant recipients, who are spread over an area of 30,000 square kilometers of mountainous terrain. In three years, some 600,000 households received rapid disbursement of nearly $1.3 billion in housing reconstruction grants.

The summary of operations approved during FY09 revealed that the IDA Poverty Reduction and Economic Support Development Policy Credit of $500 million will support the government programme to regain and maintain economic stability to increase economic growth.

IDA Second Trade and Transport Facilitation Specific Investment Credit worth $25 million will provide technical advisory services to help implement the National Trade Corridor Improvement Programme. IDA Punjab Education Sector Specific Investment Credit worth $3.3 billion will improve access and equity, and the quality and relevance of education in Punjab.

IDA Sindh Education Sector Specific Investment Credit worth $2.1 billion will support the education reforms to increase school participation, reduce gender and rural-urban disparities and improve education sector governance. IDA Third Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund Specific Investment Credit amounting to $250 million will empower poor people with increased incomes, improved productive capacity, and better access to services to reduce poverty.

IDA Third Partnership for Polio Eradication Specific Investment Credit worth $143.1 million will eradicate polio by ensuring timely supply and effective use of oral polio vaccines for young children. IDA Social Safety Net Technical Assistance Project Technical Assistance Credit worth $60 million will enhance the operation and management of a safety net system to cushion the effects of the food and economic crises.

IDA Sindh On-Farm Water Management Specific Investment Credit - Additional Financing of $61.7 million will improve the efficiency, reliability and equity of irrigation water distribution at watercourse levels and enhance agricultural productivity through these applications, the report maintained.

Petroleum product prices raised

 Khalil-Ur-Rehman

ISLAMABAD (December 01 2009): In line with rising oil prices in the international market, the government has raised the petroleum oil products' prices by an amount ranging from Rs 4.37 per litre to Rs 5.61 per litre in the country for the month of December 2009.

Accordingly Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has notified new prices of various petroleum products including petrol, kerosene oil, Light-Diesel Oil (LDO) and HOBC here on Monday, while the oil marketing companies (OMCs) have released the increased price of high-speed diesel (HSD) as it is a deregulated product.

While, OGRA announced that the price of petrol has been increased by Rs 4.37 to Rs 66 per litre, HOBC prices are raised by Rs 4.93 to Rs 80.52 per litre, kerosene price raised by Rs 4.76 to Rs 62.63 per litre and the price of Light-Speed Diesel has been increased by Rs 5.25 to Rs 60.22 per litre. The LDO is mainly used to operate mills and tube wells in rural areas. The price of high octane is raised from Rs 75.59 to Rs 80.59, notification added. The OMCs have increased high-speed diesel price by Rs 5.73 per litre to Rs 70.52 per litre for December. The HSD is the most widely consumed petroleum product in the country and the bulk of it is consumed by the transport sector.

What is Forex

Forex (also known as FX, foreign exchange) is the market where one currency is being exchanged for another one. The Forex market as a whole is not regulated by any particular entity or government body. Unlike stocks and futures, it is not conducted through a stock exchange. Instead, foreign exchange transactions are taking place on the open market (also known as over-the-counter market, OTC) because any two parties exchanging one currency into another, from local money exchanger to a large bank, are the participants of the FX market.
The volume of transactions taking place on the foreign exchange market is mind-blowing. Some estimates, based on the earlier surveys made by the Bank for International Settlements, mention an average daily figure of around US$3 trillion per day! (in early 2007).
The daily combined turnover of all major world stock exchanges is only around US$200 billion.
Because FX transactions do not need to be registered or reported to any particular exchange, there are many possibilities for its participants. A person willing to invest into FX has many options to choose from and can use different trading methods. Using a market maker allows you to choose the best conditions for trading, use the quotes available and enter large transactions with a minimal initial outlay. Usually you are able to buy/sell currency contracts equal to $100,000 with only $1000 used as a margin, another words use the 1:100 leverage. The size and volatility of the market provides excellent opportunities for making profits, however one should always remember about the risk factor when entering the foreign exchange market.
There are 5 major currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, CHF, JPY. In the currency pair the fixed unit of currency on the left is usually called “base” and the variable currency unit on the right is called “terms” or “quoted” currency. In the pair EUR/USD, EUR is the base currency and USD is the terms one.

18:25 GMT	Bid	Ask
EURUSD	1.5104	1.5106
GBPJPY	144.07	144.15
USDCHF	0.998	0.9983
GBPUSD	1.6632	1.6635
EURCHF	1.5075	1.5078
AUDUSD	0.925	0.9254
NZDUSD	0.7276	0.728
USDJPY	86.63	86.65
USDCAD	1.0431	1.0435
XAUUSD	1198.86	1199.46

Daily forex news

The yen fell against all major counterparts amid speculation policy makers will try to limit gains in the currency which reached a 14-year high against the dollar last week. The yen pared losses, the most in seven weeks in earlier trading, as the Bank of Japan refrained from cutting interest rates at an emergency policy meeting today. The yen fell 0.6 percent to 86.90 per dollar as of 7:20 a.m. in London from 86.41 in New York yesterday. The yen earlier weakened as much as 1.3 percent, the most since Oct. 15. It climbed to 84.83 on Nov. 27, the strongest level since July 1995. Japan’s currency declined 0.8 percent to 130.65 per euro from 129.64.
Australia’s dollar fell against the greenback after the central bank raised its benchmark rate and said a record third month of increases may curb inflation, fueling expectations policy makers will slow the pace of future advances.
The U.S. currency lost 1.9 percent in November in its fifth-straight monthly drop versus the euro, the longest losing streak since December 2004. The greenback was at $1.5034 per euro from $1.5005 yesterday.
Crude oil traded near $77 a barrel after rising yesterday as traders bought back futures contracts amid speculation credit losses in Dubai won’t derail the global economic recovery. Crude oil for January delivery was at $77.19 a barrel, down 9 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 3:23 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract increased $1.23 to settle at $77.28 a barrel. Futures have gained 73 percent this year after losing 54 percent in 2008. 

Daily forex news

Daily forex news | 30 November 2009 - 9:30 GMT

Dealing desk insight

The yen and dollar fell against higher-yielding currencies after the United Arab Emirates’ central bank said it "stands behind" the country’s banks, easing concern about a default by state-owned Dubai World. The yen fell to 129.87 per euro as of 7:40 a.m. in London, from 129.67 on Nov. 27 in New York.

The euro advanced for the first time in five days against the yen after the Abu Dhabi-based central bank of the U.A.E. said lenders will be able to borrow using a special facility tied to their current accounts. The euro strengthened to $1.5068, from $1.4988. The yen gained to 86.21 per dollar, from 86.53. It rose to a 14-year high of 84.83 on Nov. 27.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars rallied as demand for riskier assets increased due to allayed concern over credit losses in the Middle East. Australia’s dollar jumped to 91.91 U.S. cents, from 90.63 cents and strengthened to 79.25 yen, from 78.43. New Zealand’s dollar advanced to 72.08 U.S. cents, from 71.11 cents, and gained to 62.16 yen, from 61.52 yen.

Gold may resume its advance above $1,200 an ounce this year as the dollar weakens against global currencies. Bullion for immediate delivery tumbled as much as 4.2 percent on Nov. 27 after Dubai’s efforts to reschedule its debt rattled investors, sending the dollar up 1 percent against a basket of six major currencies. Gold, which reached an all-time high of $1,195.13 on Nov. 26, traded at $1,176.96 an ounce at 11:41 a.m. in Singapore.

Singapore News

SINGAPORE: Oil was lower in Asian trade Thursday after a strong overnight rally on the back of positive United States data and a weak dollar, analysts said. New Yorks main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, fell 50 cents to $77.76 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for January delivery dropped 47 cents to $77.97. Prices surged overnight as fresh US data showed jobless claims fell in the week ending November 21 to an adjusted 466,000, the lowest since September 2008. A separate report showed consumer spending rose more than expected in October, and a third said sales of new homes rose at their strongest pace since September 2008. "The overwhelming (market) sentiment was based on the economic news," said Andy Lipow, analyst at Lipow Oil Associates. Crude prices probably eased off in morning Asian trade as investors switched focus to digest the weekly oil data from the US Department of Energy (DoE), analysts said. "The inventory numbers were uninspiring so there was not anything to drive the market higher," said Jason Feer, Singapore-based regional vice president for energy analysts Argus Media. The DoE said Wednesday in its weekly report that crude stocks rose by one million barrels in the week ended November 20 and gasoline reserves were up by the same amount. The weekly DoE report is closely watched by the market because the US is the worlds biggest energy consumer. Meanwhile, Opec member Algeria said the oil cartel was likely to maintain its production levels when the organization meets next month in Angola. "We are going to keep the same output level until we have a clearer vision of the world economic situation," Algeria energy minister Chakib Khelil said in a report carried by a news agency. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries supplies 40 percent of the worlds crude.

Business News

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that a lending scheme to aid countries hit hard by the financial crisis had grown to 600 billion dollars. The Washington-based Fund said that an additional 13 potential countries had agreed to join 26 nations in committing money to the so-called New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB), which was originally targeted at 500 billion dollars. They also vowed to bring more flexibility to the NAB, a standing set of credit arrangements under which participants commit supplementary resources for IMF lending when needed. The IMF executive board is expected to make a formal decision on the expanded NAB in the coming weeks. To ensure that the IMF continues to have sufficient resources to meet demand, the Group of 20 emerging and developed economies committed in September to triple its available resources, up from a pre-crisis level of about 250 billion dollars. G20 leaders agreed in April that immediate financing of 250 billion dollars from members would subsequently be folded into an expanded and more flexible NAB, increased by up to 500 billion dollars. Among the countries that contributed to the scheme are developed nations such as the United States, Britain, France, Japan and Italy and developing states like China, Brazil and India.