Daily Market Review – Asian Session – Australian Dollar remains firm near 29 year high

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The Euro opened up this week’s first session at 1.4040, some 30 pips below last week’s US session close and dropped a further 20 pips in early session to reach a 10 day low of 1.4020. Recent news of a German State election rout for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives has appeared to weigh down on the Euro in the early stages of the session. The Euro has since then been linearly rising against the USD reaching a session high at 1.4068 – many investors expect the current losses of the Euro to be limited due to the high expectation of an interest rate hike by the European Central Bank; an event that may see the Euro test the November 5th and November 4th highs of 1.4248 and 1.4281 respectively.

The Sterling opened up this week’s first session some 15 pips lower from Friday’s close at 1.6002 and remained steady throughout the Asian session trading around the 1.6010 levels with oscillations limited to +/-10 pips. The GBPUSD is currently following on from a 5 day decline which has seen the British pound decline by over 350 pips. Strong support is seen for the Sterling around the 1.5980 levels, which had been unsuccessfully tested on a number of occasions throughout the last few months.

The Japanese Yen has been dropping against the USD in today’s Asian session, following on from last Friday’s trend as the USDJPY rose by over 35 pips from an Asian session open of 81.39 to reach a daily high of 81.77. The current level of the USDJPY is closing in on an important resistance level of 81.98 – the March 18th high which was reached following on from the currency pairs all-time low that was reached amid the natural disasters which saw an earthquake and Tsunami hit the North Eastern part of Japan.

The Australian Dollar remained relatively firm today, staying near the 29 year high that was reached in last Friday’s United States session. The AUDUSD remained relatively supported some 45 pips below the 29 year high around the 1.0248 levels. Last Friday’s peak is a result of a rally which saw the Australian Dollar gain over 587 pips against the US Dollar in the space of just over a week. The recent awakening of risk appetite in the market and increasingly positive data from the US economy has seen the Australian Dollar soar to a 29 year high as investors looked to invest in a high yielding currency. The recent level of the AUDUSD currency pair is at 1.0260 as it ascends towards the end of the Asian session.

Gold has been trading around the $1426.2 per ounce level throughout the Asian session, oscillating by +/-$2.50. The precious metal opened up the session slightly lower from last week at $1427.7 per ounce and took a sharp drop to reach a low of $1423.6 in early Asian session before recovering and rising to trade back up at the $1426.40’s. Recent risk appetite has helped keep the safe haven commodity at a buoyed level, well above the $1400 per ounce, following the recent rally which saw Gold appreciate by over $59 in the space of a week.