The Dollar firmed against the euro, capping off the single currencies gains experienced in last Friday’s sessions which saw the EURUSD currency pair reach a 15 month high of 1.4486. Today’s earlier sessions saw the pair trade around the 1.4457 levels, oscillating by some +/- 20 pips before dropping in the US session by some 40 pips to a daily low of 1.4420 in the early parts of the session. The Dollar’s gains were limited however, with the debt ceiling debate thought to limit the greenback’s gain. Thus far in April the Euro has gained over 2% against the Dollar but has met strong resistance around the January 17th high of 1.4413, which it still has not convincingly broke away from.
The Sterling experienced high volatility in today’s US session against the Dollar, ranging by over 95 pips from its peak and trough levels of 1.6329 and 1.6425, respectively. The Sterling is expected to remain under pressure, following the Bank of England’s decision to not raise its interest rates last Thursday, which saw the Euro gain against the British pound, especially following the ECB’s expected decision to raise its interest rates by 25 basis points. Against the Euro, the Sterling hit a 5 and a half month low in earlier sessions, seeing the EURGBP cross pair rise to 0.8858. The US session did see the Sterling recoup some of the day’s earlier losses, bringing the EURGBP to 0.8791; however this was temporary as the pair rose back up to settle around the 0.8825 levels.
The Swiss Franc reached a 2 and a half week high against the Dollar as the USDCHF pair dropped to a low of 1.0490. Resistance for the pair is seen at the 10 day simple moving average at 0.9123, with support at March 23rd low of 0.8977 and further support at 0.8895 – the all time low reached on the 16th of March, a result of great uncertainty in the market following the natural disasters that took place in Japan.
The Canadian currency remained firm against the USD, staying within reach of the recent 3 and a half year low of the USDCAD pair of 0.9525, as it traded steadily around the 0.9564 levels. The USDCAD levels remained relatively firm ahead of tomorrow’s Bank of Canada policy announcement and Wednesday’s quarterly report. The recent Libyan ceasefire is expected to see Oil prices drop in the near future, which may in turn see a weaker Canadian Dollar.
Gold has been dropping in value in today’s US session after having reached yet another all time high in the wake of this week’s Asian session, reaching a value of $1476.2 per ounce. The US session did see the precious metal depreciate by some $10 to reach a session low of $1459.3. The safe haven commodity lost some appeal following the peace plan that has came to light with regards to the Libyan civil war.
| EURUSD | USDJPY | GBPUSD | USDCHF | USDCAD | GOLD | |
| OPEN
(12:00 GMT) |
1.4459 | 84.71 | 1.6355 | 0.9088 | 0.9560 | 1469.6 |
| DAY’S HIGH | 1.4482 | 85.14 | 1.6425 | 0.9104 | 0.9576 | 1476.2 |
| DAY’S LOW | 1.4420 | 84.50 | 1.6312 | 0.9045 | 0.9541 | 1459.3 |
| CLOSE
(21:00 GMT) |
1.4426 | 84.61 | 1.6346 | 0.9065 | 0.9562 | 1462.6 |
