16.09.13

Asian stocks were up today, some attribute the news that Larry Summers has ruled himself out of taking the position as next Federal Reserve Chairman. Expectation that the monetary easing will be tapered less under Janet Yellen, who is now favourite for the Chair, than it would have been under Summers. Japanese markets are closed today for the Respect-for-the-Aged Day Bank Holiday. USD/JPY was trading at 98.77 with a high of 99.10 and a low of 98.45 so far. Australia will release Reserve Bank meeting minutes tomorrow. The AUD/USD was trading higher at 0.9342 with a high of 93.91 and a low of 0.9316.

The NIKKEI closed at 14404.70 up 17.40 points or 0.12%

European markets are expected to remain calmer today as the Japanese holiday leads into the big event this week, the Federal Reserve meeting on the 18^th of this month. This week will see some important figures released in the UK including the Consumer Price Index tomorrow, and the Bank of England meeting minutes on Wednesday. EUR/USD gapped up today on the Summers news, and the pair was trading at 1.3366 with a high of 1.3381 and a low of 1.3354, while CABLE was trading at 1.5946 with a high of 1.5957 and a low of 1.5930 so far.

The FTSE100 closed at 6583.80 down 5.18 or minus just 0.08% while the DAX closed at 8509.42 up 15.42 or 0.18%

Tuesday sees Consumer Price Index figures for the US, although the news everybody is looking towards is the Federal Open Market Committee meeting this Wednesday with expectations that the Board will taper this month, possibly reducing the monthly bond purchases by $10 billion to $75 billion from $85 billion per month. The USD was down against most pairs this morning losing 0.5% against the EUR and 1% against the AUD.

The DOW closed at 15376.10 up 75.42 points or 0.49%

Hope you all have a good week.