Today is a historic day in the USA: Barack Obama, the first black president, will be inaugurated as the president.
I’ve already written about how Obama’s inauguration is affecting Forex trading. It seems that wheels are already in motion: the USD strengthens against most of the currencies. EUR/USD fell below 1.30, to 1.2967. GBP/USD broke a major resistance line, and is now at 1.3952. USD/CHF also broke upwards, and is now at 1.1403.
Only the Japanese Yen is strong against the dollar, and USD/JPY is now trading now at 90.34. In Japan, the monthly Tertiary Industry Activity fell by 0.9%, within expectations, though the Household Confidence was weaker than predictions, at 26.2.
In Britain, a better than expected yearly CPI, at 3.1% didn’t help the pound recover from a big fall. It could be due to the Core CPI data, that was only 1.1%, less than 1.4% that was predicted.
In Europe, better than expected data didn’t help the European common currency. German ZEW Economic Sentiment fell by only 31 points, less than a drop of 43.5 that was expected. The European figure from ZEW was also relatively good, at -30.8.
In the country north of Obama, Canada, there is major news coming later on: the BOC will call a new Overnight Rate, and will also issue a Rate Statement. Interest rate in Canada is expected to drop by 0.5%, to 1%. This is due at 14:00 GMT, and will shake the USD/CAD, which has also been pushed by Obama optimism: the greenback went up, and the loonie is now at 1.2643.
An important speech is expected from Mervyn King towards the end of the day. He will probably elaborate on the British bailout plan.
For those of you trading on the kiwi, watch out for the monthly Core Retail Sales and Retail Sales in New Zealand. NZD/USD is now at 0.5283. Also NZD has fallen against the dollar.
So, Obama’s inauguration send the dollar up on this special day. His speech, will also impact the markets.
Happy Forex Trading!
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