- RBA raises interest rates by 25 bps to 4.5%
- Chinese manufacturing grew at slower pace in March
- Latest UK polls suggest Tories closing in on outright victory
- Japanese financial markets again closed
- Gold consolidating gains above $1180/oz
- Regional stockmarkets -0.5% on average
A holiday in Tokyo has inspired another very quiet session which has been enlivened by the RBA decision of the last few minutes.
Stops above 94.85 in USD/JPY were of most interest to dealers in early trading and once they were triggered the barrier at 95.00 was the next objective. This level has managed to stay intact despite repeated attempts. EUR/JPY also rallied strongly in an early flurry but the going has been very slow since then. Ranges: USD/JPY 94.58/98; EUR/JPY 124.74/125.45.
EUR/USD opened at 1.3190 and rallied 20 pips on the back of EUR/JPY demand but the follow through since then has been negligible. There have been no new developments in the European credit saga. Range: 1.3187/1.3213
The RBA raised rates by 0.25% and the AUD/USD fell nonetheless, perhaps by only 25 pips but nevertheless an indication that the market might be overly long. The AUD/USD had tried to break higher in the morning session as AUD/JPY again pushed towards important resistance around 88.00 but failed once again. Ranges: .9221/72; AUD/JPY 87.49/95
Sterling has been very quiet not helped by the fact that EUR/GBP is now sitting plumb in the middle of its .8600/.8720 recent range. The latest polls have had no effect in a momentum-less Asian session. Ranges: 1.5233/67, .8650/62.
Markets: HK +0.1%, All Ords -0.6%, Kospi -0.4%. Gold $1183/oz.