Monday, January 12, 2009

The New Trading Week Starts With Gaps

The New Trading Week Starts With Gaps

Overall, the new trading week starts with gaps, as a consequence of the NFP release, which moved the market from one corner to the other, driven by risk aversion. Ahead, the calendar is very light in the European session, as is the whole week, and only the U.S. session holds a top-tier release, coming out of Canada.

The Euro (Eur/Usd) is struggling to hold above the 1.34 area, after it sold very strong on Friday, in a move driven by risk-aversion. The pair fell nearly 300 pips in a very short span, after the NFP report. The euro saw a small gap only from the weekend trading.

The Pound (Gbp/Usd) opened the new trading week with a 70-pip gap, breaking under the low reached on Friday. From there, the pound barely moved in the Asian session, and is now trading above the 50-day moving average. During the weekend, a report showed the U.K. economy is expected to contract by 1.5% in Q4.

The Aussie (Aud/Usd) saw a 50-pip gap at the Sunday open, falling near TheLFB S1 (0.6985) and broke under Friday’s low. In the last four trading days, the aussie moved lower, after it bounced off the 100-day moving average. Now, the aussie is approaching the 20-day moving average.

The Cad (Usd/Cad) starts the new week with a 50-pip gap to the upside. On Friday, the pair bounced again from the 1.1750 support area, making it the fourth consecutive day in which the cad fails to move any lower. In addition, the cad trades between the 20 and the 100-day moving averages.

The Swissy (Usd/Chf) is trading just under the 1.12 level, the resistance area of the last few days, after it rose a strong number of pips on Friday during the NFP report. Also in the last few days, the 1.0850 area acted as a support level.

The Yen (Usd/Yen) also gapped at the beginning of the new week. The pair was sold very heavily in the last few days, shedding about 300 pips, after it bounced off the 50-day moving average. On Friday, the yen had a strong swing after the NFP release.

Asian Markets Down For The Third Day

Asian trade:Asian stocks opened lower for the third consecutive day, after very poor reports came out of the U.S. economy. However, the Nikkei was sheltered from any losses, since the index is closed for business.

Equity markets in Asia opened lower, trailing close were the U.S. markets on Friday. Back then, a release showed that the unemployment rate jumped four basis points, to 7.2% in December, while the economy shed another +500 jobs. The total number of job losses in 2008 reached 2.5 millions, the most since World War II. Furthermore, the unemployment rate is forecasted to go as high as 8.5% in 2009, in July the rate was reported at 5.8%.

Tonight, the Nikkei was closed for business. The Australian S&P/Asx fell 53.50 points (1.43%) to 3,682.20. U.S. futures moved slightly lower tonight, on a very small volume.

Crude oil is holding above the $40 benchmark. Crude oil for January delivery fell $0.10 to $40.70.

Gold just bounced off the 200-day moving average. Bullion for immediate delivery gained $3.20 to $853.80.

Written by TheLFB Trade Team, © 2007-2008 LFB Services, LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.TheLFB-Forex.com

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