MTV Movie Awards 2012 Best Dressed: Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Aniston And More

MTV Movie Awards 2012 Best Dressed

US Dollar Down Over 1%, Japanese Yen Mixed as 10 US Banks Say They Will Repay TARP Funds

• US Dollar Down Over 1%, Japanese Yen Mixed as 10 US Banks Say They Will Repay TARP Funds
• Euro Rebounds Against the Greenback Despite Dismal German Trade Results
• British Pound the Strongest of the Majors as UK House Price Declines Slow
• New Zealand Dollar Due to Face RBNZ Rate Decision on Wednesday

US Dollar Down Over 1%, Japanese Yen Mixed as 10 US Banks Say They Will Repay TARP Funds
The US dollar experienced sharp retracements on Tuesday, falling more than 1 percent against majors ranging from the Canadian dollar to the British pound. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen ended on a mixed note as many of the yen crosses consolidated below their recent highs, which is exactly what we've seen in the equity markets. Indeed, the DJIA was unable to break above resistance at 8800 and closed down 1.4 points at 8763.06 while the S&P 500 tested yesterday's high of 946, but backed off and closed up 3.3 points at 842.43. Looking to the economic data of the day, the US Commerce Department said that wholesale inventories tumbled for the eighth consecutive month in April at a rate of -1.4 percent as businesses anticipate further declines in demand. In fact, sales fell a slight 0.4 percent during the same period, and the reduction in supplies helped bring the inventory/sales ratio down to 1.31 from 1.32. That said, this report is quite lagging, and as a result, wasn't very market-moving.

Instead, news that ten US banks, including Goldman, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, American Express, Northern Trust, BB&T, State Street, US Bancorp, Capital One Financial and Bank of New York Mellon, would repay TARP funds totaling $68 billion helped to lift risk appetite. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner noted that repayment was an encouraging sign of financial repair, and the rise in equities suggested that traders believed the same.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report will be released and is likely to reflect much of the same thing we've seen in recent months: weak consumption, slow manufacturing conditions, a depressed housing market, deteriorating labor markets, and downward price pressures. That said, any hints of optimism or green shoots could offer a boost to investor sentiment, while a repeat of past reports should impact FX trade too much.

Related Articles: US Dollar Weekly Trading Forecast, Japanese Yen Weekly Trading Forecast

Euro Rebounds Against the Greenback Despite Dismal German Trade Results
The euro surged just over 1 percent against the US dollar on Tuesday, but this was due primarily to broad weakness in the greenback. Indeed, the euro was mixed against the rest of the majors, as it fell against the British pound and Australian dollar and gained versus the Canadian dollar, New Zealand dollar, and Japanese yen. German economic data was generally weaker than expected, as the Federal Statistics Office said that the German trade surplus narrowed to 9.4 billion euros in April from 11.3 billion euros as exports plunged 4.8 percent. That said, imports fell by the most in five months at a rate of -5.8 percent, indicating that domestic demand is actually falling faster than foreign demand. This dynamic has taken a hefty toll on industrial production, as the Economic Ministry said that output surprisingly fell 1.9 percent in April, dragging the annual rate down to a new record low of -21.6 percent. Ultimately, the combination of weakening demand and output doesn't bode well for growth in Q2, as data is likely to eventually show that GDP contracted for the fourth straight quarter.

Related Article: Euro Weekly Trading Forecast

British Pound the Strongest of the Majors as UK House Price Declines Slow
The British pound was once again the strongest of the majors, gaining over 1.5 percent against the US dollar, as the UK's Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said that house prices were down 13 percent in April from a year earlier, up from -13.6 percent in March. This was the first time since October 2007 that the index did not reflect an accelerated drop in prices, suggesting the UK's housing market collapse may be nearing a bottom. Meanwhile, Bank of England (BOE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Paul Tucker said during a speech that despite some improvement in near-term indicators, the medium-term outlook was highly uncertain as it was not year clear whether the financial system can generate the expansion of credit that will most likely be necessary to support recovery. On quantitative easing, Tucker said that the mildly upward sloping money market curve, which signals that the market is confident - as it should be - that the MPC will retighten monetary conditions when in due course that is warranted by the medium term outlook for inflation. All told, Tucker's comments signal cautious optimism, which may be the general sentiment amongst the MPC members as a whole.

Related Article: British Pound Weekly Trading Forecast

New Zealand Dollar Due to Face RBNZ Rate Decision on Wednesday
On Wednesday at 17:00 ET, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is anticipated to announce that they will leave the Official Cash Rate target unchanged at 2.50 percent for the first time since June 2008. In April, the RBNZ cut their official cash rate target last night by 50 basis points, as the world economy deteriorated more than expected during Q1. Looking to the RBNZ Governor Alan Bollard's policy statement, it is clear that the central bank has cut back their inflation expectations due to weaker global growth and tight financial conditions. Furthermore, the RBNZ anticipated that the adverse economic forces generated by the crisis to remain dominant throughout 2009, with the timing and extent of recovery remaining highly uncertain. Adding to this bearish sentiment, the RBNZ expected to leave the OCR at or below current levels through the end of 2010, which weighed heavily on the New Zealand dollar at the time. A reiteration of this bias should do the same this time around, but if the central bank strikes a more neutral tone, the New Zealand dollar could actually rally.

Related Article: New Zealand Dollar Weekly Trading Forecast

**For a full list of upcoming event risk and past releases, go to www.dailyfx.com/calendar

ECONOMIC DATA




SUPPORT AND RESISTANCE LEVELS


Written by: Terri Belkas, Currency Strategist for DailyFX.com
E-mail: tbelkas@dailyfx.com

US Dollar Gains as Treasury Yields - US Retail Sales Could Disappoint on Thursday

• US Dollar Gains as Treasury Yields - US Retail Sales Could Disappoint on Thursday
• Euro, British Pound on Opposite Sides of the Spectrum as UK Industrial Production Rises
• Japanese Yen Tumbles Ahead of Final Q1 Japanese GDP Reading
• New Zealand Dollar Jumps on RBNZ Rate Decision, Australian Dollar Faces Employment Data Overnight

US Dollar Gains as Treasury Yields - US Retail Sales Could Disappoint on Thursday
The US dollar was generally strong on Wednesday, though the currency did fall against the Australian dollar and British pound, as Treasury prices plunged, sending yields higher. In fact, the yield on 10-year notes hit an intraday high of 3.99 percent, the highest since October 2008 after Bank of Russia first deputy chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said that they would switch some of their reserves from Treasuries to International Monetary Fund bonds. The comments echo those of China, which has said that it is actively considering buying as much as $50 billion of the IMF bonds, while Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega said that they will purchase $10 billion worth of IMF bonds. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said that the US trade deficit widened for the second straight month in April to $29.2 billion, while the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report showed that the twelve Federal Reserve District Banks saw that economic conditions remained weak or deteriorated further between mid-April and May. However, five of the Districts also said that the downward trend is showing signs of moderating, adding to indications that the worst has passed for the US economy.

Looking ahead to Thursday, the Commerce Department is forecasted to report that US retail sales rose 0.5 percent in May after tumbling 0.4 percent in April, and excluding autos, retail sales are anticipated to increase by 0.2 percent. However, there is potential for a worse-than-expected result, as the latest ICSC chain store sales numbers show that consumption plunged by 4.6 percent in May from a year ago. The response of the US dollar to the results will be interesting as the currency finally responded to fundamental forces following the release of US non-farm payrolls for the month of May. Prior to that, risk trends had been the predominant driver of price action for the greenback, so this round of advance retail sales may serve as a good gauge of how strong risk links are in the FX market.

Related Articles: US Dollar Weekly Trading Forecast

Euro, British Pound on Opposite Sides of the Spectrum as UK Industrial Production Rises
The euro was extremely weak on Wednesday, losing against nearly every major currency, but on the other hand, the British pound dominated. There wasn't much in the way of European economic news, but according to the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS), the nation's visible trade deficit widened to 7.003 billion pounds from 6.471 billion pounds during the month of April, as import growth outpaced a pickup in exports. At the same time, the ONS also said that industrial output rose by 0.3 percent during April, the first increase since February 2008 and the largest rise since October 2007. The improvement was due primarily to jump in mining and quarrying production, though the 0.2 percent increase in manufacturing output was notable in that it was the second consecutive positive result. That said, it's important to keep these moves in perspective, as the annual rate of industrial production remains deeply negative at -12.3 percent.

Related Article: Euro Weekly Trading Forecast, British Pound Weekly Trading Forecast

Japanese Yen Tumbles Ahead of Final Q1 Japanese GDP Reading
The Japanese yen was the weakest of the majors on Wednesday, tumbling more than 1 percent against the ultra-strong Australian dollar and British pound and falling 0.77 percent versus the US dollar. Most of the losses came during the Asian trading session though, as losses in the US equity markets subsequently pushed the Japanese yen higher. Tonight at 19:50 ET, Japan's Cabinet Office will release their final growth readings, which should confirm that the economy contracted for the fourth straight quarter in Q1 2009. However, this reading is anticipated to be revised higher once again, this time to -14.9 percent from -15.2 percent. While this would still be the worst result on record, the revision has potential to provide a boost to the Japanese yen, which is what we saw with the release of the preliminary reading on May 19. On the other hand, a revision to the downside could weigh heavily on the low-yielding currency.

New Zealand Dollar Jumps on RBNZ Rate Decision, Australian Dollar Faces Employment Data Overnight
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) left their Official Cash Rate target unchanged at 2.50 percent, as expected, citing evidence that international economic activity is stabilizing and international financial conditions are improving. RBNZ Governor Alan Bollard was somewhat optimistic in his post-meeting policy statement, saying that for the first time in some months, there were clear upside opportunities for activity. However, these comments were generally the sole confident notes as Bollard also noted downside risks to activity and inflation, with the appreciation of the New Zealand dollar creating an unhelpful tension with their projections. That said, Bollard wrote off the need to intervene in the FX markets, saying that neither intervention nor a rate cut would impact the currency. Going forward, the RBNZ has left the door open to modest reductions in coming quarters as they reiterated their previous statement that they expect to keep the OCR at or below the current level through until the latter part of 2010. Keeping this in mind, the New Zealand dollar's initial rally in response to this policy decision could ultimately prove to be short-lived.

The Australian dollar gained on Wednesday, especially against the low-yielding Japanese yen, but the currency faces event risk overnight. The Australian labor markets started to deteriorate during the second half of 2008, and data may show that this is continuing through 2009. While we did see a surprise improvement in April, the May results are projected to show that the unemployment rate rose back up to 5.7 percent from 5.4 percent while the net employment change is anticipated to fall by 30,000. The latter report tends to have a greater impact on the Aussie since the figure rarely meets expectations and can lead to volatile short-term price action for the Australian dollar immediately following the news at 21:30 EDT.

Related Article: New Zealand Dollar Weekly Trading Forecast

**For a full list of upcoming event risk and past releases, go to www.dailyfx.com/calendar

ECONOMIC DATA


SUPPORT AND RESISTANCE LEVELS


Written by: Terri Belkas, Currency Strategist for DailyFX.com
E-mail: tbelkas@dailyfx.com

MTV Movie Awards 2012 Best Dressed

MTV Movie Awards 2012 Best Dressed

Japanese April Industrial Output Growth Rev. Up

RTTNews - Friday, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Japan's industrial production grew 5.9% month-on-month in April, revised up from the preliminary estimate of 5.2%. On a yearly basis, production plunged 30.7% in April.

The ministry revised monthly growth for shipments to 3% from 2.3%, while it confirmed 2.7% decline in inventory. Year-on-year, shipments plummeted 30.7% and inventory by 7.2%.

According to the report, capacity utilization rose by a seasonally adjusted 10.2% in April from the previous month. Compared to April 2008, capacity utilization declined 35.5%.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

MTV Movie Awards 2012 Best Dressed

MTV Movie Awards 2012 Best Dressed

MTV Movie Awards 2012 Best Dressed

MTV Movie Awards 2012 Best Dressed

MTV Movie Awards 2012 Best Dressed

MTV Movie Awards 2012 Best Dressed

MTV Movie Awards 2012 Best Dressed

MTV Movie Awards 2012 Best Dressed