 The forex markets open the week rather quietly. Sterling and Dollar are generally firmer but are both kept below Friday's high. The Pound did attempt to rise against Euro at open but quickly retreated back into familiar range. On the other hand, New Zealand Dollar and Australian Dollar are mildly lower. Chinese President Xi Jinping's unambitious pledge on import triggered little reactions, nor did BoJ Governor Kuroda's message on easing that we've heard a thousand times. Traders will look into UK services PMI and US ISM services for more inspirations, as well as comment out of EU on Italy. In other markets, Nikkei closed down -1.57% at 21895.22. Other Asian markets are in red, with Hong Kong HSI down -2.35%, Shanghai SSE down -0.98%, Singapore Strait Times down -1.81%. Gold is hovering at 1230 after rebounding off 1210 last week. The more interesting move is seen in WTI crude oil, which is dropping further to 62.79 at the time of writing. Oil was sold off after the US granted temporary exemptions on Iranian oil sanctions to eight countries, including China, India, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Japan. Taiwan is also exempted. Technically, the main focus today is on whether Dollar could extend Friday's late rebound. In particular, USD/JPY is closing in on 113.38 temporary top. Even though there's some hesitation, EUR/GBP looks set to take on 0.8722 low. |
