USD Down Against All Currencies, Stocks Gain

Asian markets opened higher on Sunday, although the Japanese and Chinese exchanges are closed for public holidays which meant a lower trading volume in the session. Sentiment is rife that central banks across the world will heighten monetary easing measures or at least maintain them in their current form. This sentiment was reinforced after last week's soft U.S. GDP data as well as the troubling employment numbers in the Eurozone, which in France and Spain specifically are at record lows.

The Japanese currency has been successfully weakened by 20 per cent since November, cheapening the price of exports. The asset buying programme introduced by Bank of Japan was approved at the latest G20 meeting. This leads people to believe that the same measures could now be taken in other flailing global economies. Eyes will be placed on the opening of the 2 day Federal Reserve meeting for indications of this nature.

The South Korean Kospi was one of the few Asian exchanges trading lower, dropping 0.38 per cent. South Korea, which is the only nation to speak out against Japan’s monetary measures are Japan’s biggest rival when it comes to exports of cars, products and electronics. The Korean won gained almost 5 percent against the yen in Q1 2013. A report coming from South Korea said that if the won rises 10 percent further against the yen, this will cut the local exports by a massive 1.9 per cent in Q2 from the previous year.

Stocks
During today’s Asian session the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was trading lower by 0.05 per cent while the Australian S&P/ASX 200 was up by 0.60 per cent, boosted by rebounding banking shares. The New Zealand NZSE 50 leapt by 0.77 per cent aided by the Bank of New Zealand’s decision to keep the interest rates at a record low of 2.5 per cent, further supported by positive earnings and a rise in M&A activity.

Forex
The USD continues its fall against the other majors after the disappointment of the US GDP numbers, the USD no longer a safe haven asset. The EUR was up 14 per cent against the USD, the GBP gained 0.29 per cent against the USD and the USD was up 0.39 per cent against the yen. The USD against the AUD and CAD was down 0.32 per cent and 0.16 per cent respectively. The USDX or dollar index fell 0.21 per cent.

Commodities
Gold and Silver began a new week up, with 10.06 per cent and 1.85 per cent respectively. Crude oil dropped 0.47 per cent, Natural Gas finally rebounded on warm weather forecasts and the supply issues now behind us.

Today’s Trading
European session should be busy, with EU economic sentiment data at 9am GMT. This should be watched by binary options traders as it could impact the EUR. At 12.30 GMT, keep eyes out for the Personal Income and Spending in the U.S. This figure in March slunk to a 9 month low. This number is important for the U.S., which is a nation that is 70 per cent driven by consumer spending.