- President Obama’s address to congress helped the USD rally in Asia
- Ben Bernanke warned of a lingering recession but said banks will probably not need to be nationalised
- Australian wages rose 1.2% in the last quarter and 4.3% YoY.
- Japans exports for January plunged by a record 45.7%.
USD/JPY again stole the limelight with the pair grinding its way higher towards the first level of technical resistance at 97.40. EUR/USD fell as President Obama spoke but EUR/JPY buying seemed to net out most of the sales. Regional equity markets gained on average around 1.5%. Gold drifted lower from $965 to $960/oz.
EUR/USD traded a 1.2802-1.2877 range, EUR/JPY 123.78-124.99, USD/JPY 96.35/97.30, AUD/USD .6475/.6539, cable 1.4476/1.4558 and Swissy 1.1577/1.1640.