US Dollar becalmed.


The US Dollar was roughly unchanged after a day of subdued trading in narrow ranges. The Euro had a range of a mere 45 pips. A high of 1.1940 after starting the day at the low of 1.1895, and closing at 1.1925, was typical of overall forex trading today. The British Pound opened strongly, touching a high of 1.7420 within an hour. Currency traders then spent the rest of the day pushing sterling lower to close at 1.7365. The low was 20 pips lower. The Japanese Yen ended the European trading session at the mid point of its trading range at 117.75 with the high and low trades 25 pips either side. The major focus for the day were still the outcome of the Bank of Japan meeting tomorrow and the major US economic data tomorrow and Friday. The financial markets are united in the belief that the Bank of Japan will move away from their easy money stance , but divided as to when. Straight away, or after the start of the new fiscal year? My bet is on the new fiscal year.

The US trade balance data, due for release at 13.30 GMT, is looking at a deficit for January of 66.0 billion us dollars against a deficit of 65.7 billion in December. Oil import and the price paid during the month are likely to be the main component that will provide a fluctuation. The February Unemployment data due for release on Friday is likely to show a nonfarm payrolls rise of 203,000 in February after a 193,000 gain in January, remember to watch out for previous months revisions. This economic data from now on will be the latest that will be taken into account at the next Federal Reserve Policy meeting on March 27th and 28