MORNING BRIEFING : Greece still in the head lines

[RTFX-Trading]

MORNING BRIEFING :  Greece still in the head lines

What’s new :
Japan: Good Economic performance for Japanese business
Euro zone: 30 days for Greece to show its goodwill
Euro zone: Europe not prepared to pay for Greece, says Junker
Australia: Hopes of rate hikes still present
New Zealand: NZ Dollars very firm
Asia: Chinese New Year

Today:


Rates in Asia and Indices:
EURUSD: 1.3654 - 1.3588.
USDCHF: 1.0789 - 1.0736.
GBPUSD: 1.5709-1.5654.
EURJPY: 122.78-122.31.
USDJPY: 90.09 - 89.71.
DowJones: Closed
NASDAQ: Closed
S & P 500: Closed
Nikkei: 10'034 .25 021%
Shanghai: Closed
Gold: $ 1'108 .15
Crude Oil: $ 73.07

Comments:
Publication of the corporate results in these days fuelled hopes for a continuing economic recovery and support the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei ending up + 0.21% this morning. However, fears that deflation is not yet over and therefore that the BoJ (Bank of Japan) could relax its monetary policy again keep the Yen under pressure.  

Meeting again yesterday in Brussels, the Finance Ministers of the Euro Zone gave 30 days to Greece to demonstrate its determination to consolidate its public finances. The Greek government has had to commit to propose new budget measures before March 16 if the achievement of its objectives of reducing deficits proved insufficient.

If yesterday Mr. Juncker voiced the resolve of European Union’s leaders to take coordinated measures to address the stability of the Euro Zone if necessary, the lack of concrete solutions in these statements do not totally reassure market. The comment by Mr. Juncker that citizens of the other EU countries are not willing to pay for the mistakes of Greece and that the EU did not rule out possible sanctions does not reassure the markets anymore.
 
The publication of the minutes of the last monetary policy meeting of the RBA (Royal Bank of Australia) has revived the hopes of seeing the RBA continuing its recent policy of raising rates and providing support to the AUD, which gained ground against major currencies.

Helped by concerns about the Euro, the Kiwi (New Zealand Dollar) has been the winner of the night, appreciating against all major currencies, despite recent signs of slower recovery which removes the hopes of near rate hike.

The closure of New York for President's Day and of Asia closed for Chinese New Year calmed down the markets, which have been very quiet yesterday. The EUR responded to various statements from European leaders later during the night. Simple technical rebound or change of trend, future news concerning Greece will give us more guidance on market confidence in the EUR.

Good day

Pascal Bovay

RTFX Ltd
Trading desk
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