Global Equity Markets were off slightly Monday. A combination of light volume and a lack of any real economic data releases left markets essentially flat as traders continue to be risk averse heading into year end. The Dollar had looked to continue its rally until Fed Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments regarding U.S rates remaining low for an “extended period of time” and his seemingly unimpressed manner regarding unemployment put the rally on hold.
The Dollar held its gains from Friday as the DXY closed down only a couple points to 75.757. Gold finished modestly lower to 1,158.10 while Oil gave up a little over a 1.50 a barrel to finish the day at 73.93.
The CAD moved into positive territory as Building Permits jumped 18%. This once again reaffirmed that Canada is in the midst of substantive recovery. This news comes on the heels of the BOC Rate decision today. Mark Carney, Governor of the BOC, has already expressed his commitment to keep rates on hold at least through mid 2010. In Japan, GDP figures are set to print and in the U.K. Industrial Production number are due out. We expect a good amount of volatility in the market today given recent events and today’s prints.
Upcoming Forex Events for December 8, 2009
CAD Interest Rate Decision Forecast 0.25% Previous 0.25%
GBP NIESR GDP Estimate Previous -0.40%
JPY GDP (QoQ) Forecast 0.90% Previous 1.20%
AUD Home Loans (MoM) Forecast -1.80% Previous 5.10%