Greek Banks Lift the Shutters:
After being shuttered up for three long weeks, Greek banks are today ready to open their doors again in order to restore some normality to the lives of every day Greek people.
With withdrawal limits still in place and only a slight relaxation of capital controls, rather than the previous €60 per day limit, individuals will now be able to withdraw a new weekly allowance of €420 in a single transaction. Queues at struggling regional bank branches are not expected to go away any time soon but the increased limit will not relieve any pressure on the struggling lower class. Restrictions on sending money abroad will also still remain in place.
My favourite quote came from the head of Greece’s Banking Association, Louka Katseli as she urged the Greek people to place their trust back in the banking system and return any money that they have previously withdrawn and saved as cash, to their bank accounts:
“When the banks reopen and normality is restored, let’s all help our economy. If we take our money out of chests and from our homes – where they are not safe in any case – and we deposit them in the banks, we will strengthen the liquidity of the economy.”
Yep.
The WSJ did an excellent interview with Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, highlighting just how tough regaining trust is going to be.
“The leaders, they were very, very critical to the Greek prime minister, basically saying what basis is there to work together for the future?”
How the European Union continues to move in a forward direction, I have no idea.
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On the Calendar Today:
A quiet start to the week on the data front. With Greece settling back into normality and Japan on holiday in observance of Marine Day, I’m not expecting much action during the Asian session.
“Marine Day, also known as “Ocean Day” or “Sea Day”, is a Japanese national holiday celebrated on the third Monday in July. The purpose of the holiday is to give thanks to the ocean’s bounty and to consider the importance of the ocean to Japan as an island nation.”
Fittingly on Marine Day, we woke up to headlines of Aussie surfer Mick Fanning fighting off a Great White Shark in Jeffreys Bay off the Eastern Cape of South Africa. With the J-Bay event live on TV, I can’t even begin to comprehend how bad this could have been.
Monday:
JPY Bank Holiday
CAD Wholesale Sales m/m
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Chart of the Day:
With Tokyo on holidays in observance of Marine Day, it gives us an extra day to devise a plan of attack on the Nikkei.
Nikkei 225 Daily:
Click on chart to see a larger view.
With QE pumping endless liquidity into the booming Japanese Stock Market, it was as if the up trend was never ending. That was until the beginning of July when we got a technical break of the dominant bullish trend line, putting the trend in doubt.
However, with no sustained selling, the breakout failed and the broken trend line is now being re-tested as potential resistance. With the trend line re-test also lining up with previous swing highs, any weakness here could be viewed as an opportunity to short into.
What are your thoughts on the level that the Nikkei is testing? Let us know by leaving a comment below or mention @VantageFX on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR).