EUR/USD
The euro dropped for a second consecutive week versus the dollar for the first time in almost five months on speculation European Central Bank and Federal Reserve monetary policies are deviating. The 18-nation currency touched the lowest level in a month amid comments from policy makers, from Bundes bank President Jens Weidman saying there’s low risk of deflation, to ECB Governing Council member Jozef Makuch citing higher risks of deflation. he ECB meets April 3, The ECB has tools it could employ to stimulate the economy. Governing Council member Jens Weidman last week told Market News International that quantitative easing is theoretically possible, as long as it doesn't infringe the ban on monetary financing of governments. He also said on March 29 in Berlin that officials should only react to "second-round effects" of slowing inflation, which aren't evident currently. By the time of the decision, the ECB president will have a better picture of the state of the euro-area economy. Unemployment (UMRTEMU) probably held at 12 percent in February, eurusd trade at 1.3750.
GBP/USD
U.K. house prices increased for a 14th consecutive month in March, the longest run of gains in almost seven years, as momentum spread across the country. Values in England and Wales rose 0.6 percent from February, with the southwest and East Anglia registering the largest increases, property researcher Hometrack Ltd. said in a report published today. Prices in London climbed 0.7 percent, while 50 percent of postcode districts reported gains. BOE officials adopted measures to restrain housing by ending mortgage incentives under its Funding for Lending Scheme in November. While the Financial Policy Committee said this month it will “remain vigilant,” it also noted that a number of indicators remained below their long-run average levels. Gbpusd reach to 1.6650.
USD/JPY
Japan’s encouragement of yen depreciation to boost the economy threatens to backfire by making the country dependent on foreign investors for funding. “As Japan’s current account continues to deteriorate, we may see bad currency weakness, just like the fragile five,” Masashi Murata, a Tokyo-based currency at strategist Brown Brothers Harriman, said in a March 26 phone interview. “Japan may enter the fragile list as early as this year.” The yen has weakened 16 percent since December 2012, when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was elected on a pledge to flood markets with cheap money and end 15 years of crippling deflation by keeping the currency in check. Those losses have pushed up the costs of imports, increasing the current-account deficit to a record 1.59 trillion yen ($15.5 billion) in January.
USD/CAD
Canada dollar bearish best fall most ever on china signs Canada, Speculators cut wagers on Canada’s dollar weakening against the greenback, known as net shorts, by 36,590 positions as of March 25 from a week earlier, the most in records going back to 1993, figures from the Washington-based Commodity Futures Trading Commission show. The shift reduced short positions to 33,215 contracts, from 69,805 on March 21.The Canadian dollar, nicknamed the loonie for the image of the aquatic bird on the C$1 coin, declined 0.3 percent to C$1.1060.
