Daily Market Report 07/05/2013

The euro suffered losses against all 16 of its major counterparts yesterday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi stated once again that policy makers would be ready to cut interest rates again if they needed to.

In a speech in Rome yesterday afternoon, Draghi stated that the ECB will closely monitor economic data released from the euro zone over the coming weeks and if necessary would be willing to act again. Losses in the euro were limited however without any falls through technical levels of support as Draghi had already mentioned last Thursday this possibility.

Data from the euro zone yesterday showed that retail sales dropped 2.4% in March, lower than the forecasted 2.2% decline. Sentix investor confidence data from the euro zone was also lower than forecasts.

Aside from data from the euro zone, the rest of yesterday was devoid of any further data. The US dollar continued to remain supported by the better than expected non-farm payroll figures from last Friday.

Overnight the Reserve Bank of Australia surprised the markets by cutting their interest rates to 2.75% from 3%. RBA Governor Glenn Stevens commented on the decision stating policymakers “judged that a further decline in the cash rate was appropriate to encourage sustainable growth in the economy.”

Looking ahead for the rest of the week, the headline event looks set to be the Bank of England interest rate decision on Thursday. But given the recent positive sentiment on the UK economy, expect the results on the voting to remain unchanged.

Sterling against both the euro and US dollar has met resistance on numerous occasions recently without any major breakthrough, indicating that current levels may be as good as it’s going to get in the short term.

Key Announcements:

11.00am – German Factory Orders (YoY) (Mar): Expected to decline 2.9%.