Forex

The U.S. stock markets will be closed today in observance of President's Day

Asian and European trading sessions:

Euro: The euro fell against the dollar; the EUR / USD pair fell to $ 1.3325 during the Asian session in the run-up to parliamentary elections in Italy on February 24-25. During the European session the pair fell to the lows of $ 1.3305, and then established a high at $ 1.3380 area.

British Pound: The pound fell, approaching the seven-month low against the dollar amid expectations of increasing inflation in the country. Recall that on February 20 will be published minutes of the last meeting of the Bank of England. On its previous meeting the Central Bank left its bond purchase program unchanged, saying that inflation is likely to accelerate in the near future and may remain above the target level of 2% for the next two years. The GBP / USD pair fell to $ 1.5470 the Asian session. The pound fell against almost all of its 16 major counterparts as futures traders increased bets that the currency will continue to decline. According to the data, the number and volume of short positions of hedge funds and other large speculators who are betting on further depreciation of the currency were substantionally increased. Also exerted pressure on the currency was provided by the representative of the Bank of England Wil Martin, who noted that exporters can be benefited from the reduced rate of the sterling.

Japanese Yen: The statements of the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G20 in respect of competitive devaluations of the rates of National currencies were interpreted by market participants as relatively mild in relation to Japan. For that reason, the yen fell against most major currencies. The USD / JPY pair rose to Y94.21 level during the Asian session, however, then it fell toY93.73 during the European session.

American trading session:

U.S. stock markets will be closed today in observance of President's Day.

Euro: The data released today showed that in December the current account surplus narrowed more than expected euro zone - up to € 13.9 billion from € 15.9 billion in November and the expected result of € 15.3 billion. The Indicator, which summarizes the flow of goods, services, income and transfer payments in and out of the Euro-zone nations to other countries widened to € 27.0 billion from the previous value of € 20.8 billion revised from € 19.8.

Gold: The prices of gold recovered from a six-month low today on Monday during the Asian session and grew due to return to the Chinese investors to market. However, the strong dollar restrained the growth of the asset. The April futures price of gold fell to 1609.70 dollars per ounce on COMEX today.

Oil: The March futures price of WTI type of oil tested today Friday’s lows when it suffered the biggest decline in two weeks, a 1.5 % decline and was held in a narrow range. The electronic trading were closed today with in observance of the U.S. President's Day celebrated in U.S.