MORNING BRIEFING: ECB President Trichet leaves Australia for special EU summit.

[RTFX-Trading]

MORNING BRIEFING: ECB President Trichet leaves Australia for special EU summit.

What’s new:
Australia: ECB President Trichet leaves Sydney meeting early to attend European Council Meeting.
Euro-zone: Special European Council meeting scheduled for Thursday 11th.
United States: Euro-zone debt worries push Dow Jones back below 10,000.
United States: Fed’s Yellen says low US rates are fueling concerns in China and Hong Kong.
Switzerland: Retail sales jump in December to 4.7% versus an expected 0.60%.

Today:


Overnight Rates and Indices:
EURUSD: 1.3744 – 1.3643.
USDCHF: 1.0748 – 1.0683.
GBPUSD: 1.5646 – 1.5566.
EURJPY: 123.13 – 121.66.
USDJPY: 89.64 – 89.16.
DowJones: 9’908.39 -1.04%
NASDAQ: 2’126.05 -0.70%
S&P 500: 1’056.74 -0.89%
Nikkei: 9’932.90 -0.19%.
Shanghai: 2’948.84 +0.47%,
Gold: $1’067.80
Crude Oil: $72.09
 
Comments:

European Central Bank President Trichet is cutting his trip to Australia short said an RBA official. This news was later confirmed by an ECB spokeswoman. The ECB leader was in Sydney scheduled to meet central bankers from the East Asia-Pacific region. The EU leaders are holding a special summit on February 11th in Brussels to tackle ever growing concerns over the debt crisis in Greece and budget concerns in other European states.

The Euro edged up against the US Dollar on Tuesday, however still hovering close to its 8-1/2 month low hit last week, as the market anticipate a rescue for struggling Greece to come soon. However markets were subdued in Tuesday’s Asian Trading, as investors are unwilling to place big bets ahead of the EU’s special summit. The trend in EURUSD remains bearish; however any positive news from the summit should give the single currency the chance to rebound slightly. 

Meanwhile the debt crisis from Greece, Portugal and Spain together with the proposed taxes and further regulations on banks is taking its toll on global equity markets. Yesterday, the Dow Jones fell back under the psychological barrier of 10’000, as it dropped 103.84 points, and the S&P500 is 8.1% off from its 15-month peak reached in January of this year.

Have a nice day.

Emman Xuereb
Trading Desk
RTFX Ltd
Risk Disclaimer