Forex

The results of election in Italy raised a wave of concerns about the political instability in the region

Asian and European trading sessions:

Euro: Yesterday, in Italy, were concluded parliamentary election, the outcome of which did not bring an unambiguous victory of any political force and suggested that it may require an additional round. Also, it demonstrated that the voters opposed any fiscal austerity policies. The center-left Democratic Party, which won the election in Italy's, led by Pier Luigi Bersani, got only a small majority in the lower house of parliament (29.6%), which will not be enough to form a cabinet. Next was the party of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with 29, 1%. The results of elections raised a wave of concerns about political stability in the country and a possible deterioration of the debt crisis in Europe. The EUR / USD pair, however, recovered from its seven-week low amid declining profitability of Italian and Spanish bonds. In addition, the currency was supported by speculations that the ECB will intervene to limit losses of the bondholders of the peripheral euro zone countries after Mario Draghi spoke clearly about the persistence of monetary union. The EUR / USD pair rose to $ 1.3120 during the European session.

British Pound: The GBP / USD pair rose to $ 1.5222 during the Asian session. It offset some losses in the correction after aggressive sales which dropped it yesterday to a minimum of $1.5070.  The currency also gained again the status of safe haven asset amid the political uncertainty prevailing in Italy after the election. Also, today the representative of the Bank of England Mr. Bean said that he expects to accelerate growth of the national economy in 2013-14, and expressed readiness to take additional QE measures. His colleague, Mr. McCafferty said, in addition, that the risks of collapse of the euro zone were reduced but persist that once again confirmed the elections in Italy. However, later the pound came under pressure after the Bank of England informed markets that the "real exchange rate of currency should be lower". The GBP / USD pair fell to the lows of $ 1.5127 during the European session.

Japanese Yen: The expectations that the Bank of Japan will continue easing monetary policy further to stimulate economic growth moved the USD / JPY pair to the lows Y91.38 during the European session.

American trading session:

Euro: The euro rose against the dollar to the level of $ 1.3123 as investors increased their bets that the European Central Bank will intervene in the situation to limit losses from so-called "peripheral bonds."

U.S. Dollar: After the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke said the U.S. economy will continue to recover in 2013, but the situation on the labor market and the economy as a whole is weak, and therefore, further easing is necessary the dollar index loss some points.

Swiss franc: The speculation that Italy would need a second vote after the inconclusive election results immediately increased the demand for the relative safe haven currencies like of the Swiss franc. The Swiss franc rose to a six-week high against the euro.

Gold: The Prices of gold futures registered second session gain in a row rising above the level of $ 1600 per troy ounce due to comments by the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to Congress. The February futures prices of gold were up to 1620 dollars on COMEX today.

Oil: The April futures price of WTI fell to 92.2 dollars a barrel on the NYMEX reaching a one-month low, as the inconclusive results of Italian elections have revived concerns among investors about the instability in the euro zone, therefore suggested on weak growth in demand for fuel.