Image via World Economic Forum / Flickr
On Monday, the EUR/USD gathered more selling interest with the release of fresh German factory orders figures. The major is continuing its downward path as the latest German data regarding factory production went down the second month in a row, dragging along the Euro. Factory orders came in 0.1% lower on a monthly basis for January while December’s monthly reading was revised downward to -0.2%.
On a yearly basis, industrial orders went up 1.1% in the month of January, after a revised 2.2% drop registered in December. The big picture shows an overall poor economic data for the Eurozone in the last period, which is continuously building probable cause for further easing from the ECB (European Central Bank) in the near future. Markets are expecting a fall in the deposit rates later this week, in the policy meeting.
[Tweet “Latest Japan data: Q4 GDP is lower than previous, USD/JPY hit 112.4, going down for the day 0.80%”]
The USD/JPY pair recovered some of its losses early in the Tuesday sessions, but only managed to climb from 113.20 to 113.53, after which new pressure came from the Japanese side. Latest Japan data shows that the Q4 GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is actually lower than previously published, the figure being revised lower. The USD/JPY hit 112.4, going down for the day 0.80%. The economic contraction was off 0.3% for the last quarter of 2015, the estimation being of a 0.4% drop. The revision in place happened due to the fact that private demand improved slightly, but still went down 0.5% for the whole quarter instead of an expected 0.6% drop.
The British pound retracted against its USD counterpart yesterday, falling under the 1.4200 handle in the session lows. The hit received by the major has as primarily cause the accumulation of risk aversion sentiments all around the global markets. Also, BoE’s (Bank of England) Carney and Cunliffe opinions about the “Brexit” added a more bearish sentiment to the trend; corroborating with the daily declines, they pushed the pair even lower.
The yellow metal prices are continuing their upward hike in the European session, managing to climb to Friday’s high of $1,279.85 per ounce in the light of new weak Chinese data triggering risk aversion sentiments in the equity markets. The steep decline in imports registered by China raised serious concerns on the Asian Continent, the fever spreading also in Europe. As a direct consequence, gold and other classic commodities used as safe havens assets went up. The buying interest surrounding the gold went down, despite the dovish tone in the European and US equity markets. The price went down, registering a session low of $1,262 per ounce – the 5 DMA (Daily Moving Average) level.
