Y/Y revised upwards to -0.4% from preliminary -0.5%.  Hooooray

EUR/USD skyrockets on y/y revision

It doesn’t really, I’m just shitting with ya   EUR/USD sits at 1.3115 after a few dips below 1.3100 in recent trade.

I wonder who was buying below 1.3100?  

EUR/USD sits at 1.3095.

What’ll we see first 1.3000 or 1.3200.

Reasoning a plus, but not obligatory.

EUR/USD has ticked up to 1.3110 from the 1.3085 which greeted me first thing.  Talk of Middle Eastern sovereign buying below 1.3100.

Sell orders seen clustered 1.3130/50.  Where are the buy stops gathered?, haven’t a clue at present.

Downside, buy orders see clustered 1.3050/70, sell stops through 1.3050.  Is there 1.3050 barrier interest in situ, I guess so but no confirmation as yet.  There’s certainly much talk of barrier interest installed at the psychological 1.3000 though, shock horror.

Simon Nixon at the WSJ.

Bloomberg.

GERMANY DATA: FEB WPI +1.0% M/M, +2.6% Y/Y; JAN +3.0% Y/Y
– GERMANY FEB WPI: FRUITS/VEGETABLES/POTATOES +6.2% M/M
– GERMANY FEB WPI: DATA PROCESSING/COMMUNICATION -0.3% M/M
– GERMANY FEB WPI: FOOD/BEVERAGES/TOBACCO +0.9% M/M
– See MNI MainWire for details

Weaker than the +1.2%, +3.0% respectively seen in January.

• Yuan’s value is up to market to decide

Dow Jones reporting.

Such moves will depend on factors such as international balance of payments.

Dow Jones reporting.

Financial bookies expect FTSE and DAX to open as much as -0.3% lower,  CAC 40 as much as -0.4%.

Trouble brewing

Happy Dayz

Love him or loathe him, latest from AEP at The Telegraph.

Got any ideas you’d like to share with your fellow readers, then here’s where to stick ‘em.

– Japan Feb SA Consumer Confidence Index 39.5 Vs Jan 40.0
– Japan Govt Keeps View: Confidence Shows Signs of Pickup

TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s consumer confidence posted the first decline
in three months in February as fewer people believed labor conditions
will continue improving and their incomes will grow in the coming six
months, data released by the Cabinet Office showed on Monday.

The closely watched index stood at 39.5 in February, down from 40.0
in January.

But the Cabinet Office maintained its assessment after upgrading it
last month, saying, “Consumer confidence is showing signs of a pickup.”

In February, three out of the four sub-indexes — on overall
economic well-being, labor conditions and income growth — fell from the
previous month while the sub-index on the timing of buying durable goods
was unchanged after rising for five months in a row.

The latest survey was conducted on Feb. 15, covering 6,720
households, of which 5,034 responded.

The labor conditions sub-index dropped 1.1 points to 36.0 in
February, the first fall in three months, while the sub-index on income
growth declined 0.6 points to 38.9, the first fall in two months.

Meanwhile, the latest survey indicated a slight increase in
consumer inflation expectations.

The percentage of people forecasting higher prices in a year’s time
rose to 63.4% of the total on an unadjusted basis in February, up from
63.1% in the previous month.

Meanwhile, the percentage of people expecting lower prices 12
months ahead stood at 7.3% last month, down from 8.1% in the previous
month.

An annual inflation rate below 2% was forecast by 22.6% of those
surveyed in the latest month, down from 24.2% in December.

Inflation in a range of 2% to 5% was forecast by 27.4% of the total
in the latest month versus 27.1% in the previous month.

Inflation at 5% or over was forecast by 13.4% of the total in the
latest month, up from 11.8% in the previous month.

Price drops of less than 2% were seen by 4.0% of the polled in the
latest month vs. 4.9% in the previous month.

Price drops in a range of 2% to 5% were forecast by 2.2% of those
surveyed in the latest month, unchanged from the previous month.

The annual rate of price drops at 5% or over was foreseen by 1.1%
of the total in the latest month, little changed from 1.0% in the
previous month.

tokyo@marketnews.com
** Market News International Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4835 **

[TOPICS: M$J$$$,M$A$$$,MAJDS$,MT$$$$]

• China’s trade balance plunged in February
• China FX chief uses this data as proof that the Yuan is close to balanced level
• USD/CNY fixed 209 pips above the Friday level, hinting that a band widening may soon occur
• Further RRR reductions also much more likely
• Some analysts still see a chance of further BOJ easing tomorrow
• Irish FinMin confirms that debt restructure negotiations are underway
• Japan February CGPI +0.6% YoY
• Japan core machine orders +3.4% MoM
• Nikkei +0.3%; other regional bourses -0.4% on average
• Gold $1709/oz; Oil $107/bbl

Once again we’ve had a very quiet trading session in Asia with only some mild profit taking in the JPY crosses to show. The higher USD/CNY mid-point Fixd led to buying in other USD/Asia pairs and this washed over into the majors as well.

USD/JPY opened near 82.40 and has traded slightly lower on the session, with AUD/JPY, KRW/JPY and EUR/JPY flows mainly to blame. The previous highs at 81.90 are the first level of support but we didn’t manage to test them. Ranges: 82.09/52

AUD/USD has had a 50 pip range but dealers reported little or no interest. AUD/JPY longs were happy to book profit on the renewed approach towards 87.50 and Sovereign support is still expected near 1.0500 in the AUD/USD; this guaranteed a range trading session. AUD/USD range was 1.0522/75

EUR/USD opened just above 1.3100 and had a very quiet early morning start for a change. Some early Tokyo selling of EUR/JPY sent the EUR/USD back below 1.3100 and set off small stops below 1.3090. There hasn’t been much of a recovery and there has been no sign of any Sovereign buyers this time. Ranges: 1.3082/1.3124

Cable 1.5655/75; EUR/CHF 1.2056/61

More from Bloomberg

EUR/USD is consolidating below 1.3100 and there have been no reports of any Sovereign bids today, as there were the last few occasions we visited this level. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a sell-off in early Europe as they go looking for the weak side of the market.

China will continue to invest in Japan’s debt markets on ”mutual beneficial” principles.

(Headlines across Reuters newswires)

The Nikkei is +0.4%, bolstered by the weaker Yen and the good US jobs numbers, but the rest of the region is lower by around 0.25% on average, influenced by the Chinese trade data.

Gold is steady on the day at $1709/oz and Oil is at $107/bbl.