Swedish Krona Posts Biggest Fall In 2 Weeks

After the IMF statements regarding a slower than expected global economic recovery, the Swedish krona posted an intense decline versus the U.S. dollar, as traders opted for safety in a rather turbulent trading session.

Several worse than expected U.S. economic reports were published today, declining attractiveness for currencies like the Swedish krona, as the country is relying on a faster economic recovery to save its banking system, which is highly attached to countries facing strong recession, like the Baltic nations of Lithuania and Latvia, forcing the krona down versus the euro and the greenback.

EUR/SEK closed at 10.23 today from a previous close of 10.18 yesterday.

If you want to comment on the Swedish krona’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Krona Hits Record High On Swedish Interest Rate Outlook

The Swedish krona traded at the highest level in more than a year versus the euro as the nation’s central bank signaled that interest rates may be hiked sooner than previously expected by analysts, bringing regional investors to purchase assets in the region.

The Swedish currency profited from a favorable scenario in both international and national scenarios as the Rik's bank said its intentions are to raise interest rates at some point during summer or early autumn, and the European Union affirmed that it will help Greece to end its fiscal crisis, even if government officials didn’t give a concrete plan on how the help will be provide.

EUR/SEK closed this Thursday at 9.8900 from a previous close at 9.9013.

If you want to comment on the Swedish krona’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Swedish Krona Down On Eurozone Optimism

The Swedish krona fell for another day this Wednesday as optimism in the Eurozone and negative releases in the Nordic country declined attractiveness regionally for assets in Sweden.

The krona is very likely to end this week posting a drop versus important currencies in Europe after a report in the country showed that Sweden is again having to deal with a recession, declining the odds that interest rates will be hiked in the country anytime soon. The krona had been an option in Europe as the Greek crisis affected market sentiment in the Eurozone, but this week, as Greece proposed new measures to tighten its fiscal deficit, the euro recovered versus the krona.

EUR/SEK traded at 9.7878 as of 14:39 GMT from 9.7700 when markets opened today.

If you want to comment on the Swedish krona’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Krona At Two-Year Record On Outlook For Monetary Tightening

The Swedish krona rose today to the highest level in two years versus the US dollar on the speculation that the central bank would perform its monetary tightening plans and as the economic data was favorable.

The Riksbank said it would increase the benchmark repo rate more than 2 percentage points over the next two years to about 3 percent. The reports showed that the manufacturing expanded for the 16th straight month, while the consumer and business confidence was at its highest level in the decade.

USD/SEK wend down from 6.7360 to 6.7095 as of 10:24 GMT today, following the drop to 6.6746, the lowest level since September 2008.

If you want to comment on the Swedish krona’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Oman Has No Plans To End Peg To Dollar

Hamud Bin Sangur al-Zadjali, the Central Bank of Oman Governor, spoke during European Banking Congress in Frankfurt today, speaking that Oman has no plans to end its peg to U.S. dollar.

While some GCC countries already ended peg to dollar (Kuwait in May, 2007) and some countries planning to do so by the end of this year or earlier next year (U.A.E. and Qatar), Oman, as Saudi Arabia, thinks that speculations around falling dollar are exaggerating and just adding more negative background to the currency market. As al-Zadjali said – dollar follows volatility of the U.S. economy; if you think about it this way then there should be time for both falling and rising.

Revaluation or any other monetary policy shifting will probably hurt Oman’s economy more than it will help. Of course, al-Zadjali is concerned by the record high and rising inflation in the country, but it is not enough to end the rial‘s peg to dollar:

We’re not thinking about revaluation, we’re not changing our policy.

Moving Average Cross Trading Strategy

Moving Average Cross Forex Trading Strategy — is a simple system that is based on the cross of the two standard indicators — the fast EMA (exponential moving average) and the slow EMA. You can also use our free Adjustable Moving Average Cross expert advisor to trade this strategy automatically in MetaTrader platform.

Features

• Very easy strategy to follow.
• Simple indicators used.
• It's easy to set stop-loss.
• Moving averages are laggy — can lag up to 10 bars.
• Ineffective during the flat markets.

Strategy Set-Up

1. Any currency pair and timeframe should work.
2. Add an exponential moving average to the chart, set its period to 9, apply to Close, set color to red (optional) — this is your fast moving average (FMA).
3. Add another exponential moving average to the chart, set its period to 14, apply to Close, set color to blue (optional) — this is your slow moving average (SMA).

Entry Conditions

Enter Long position when FMA crosses SMA from below.

Enter Short position when FMA crosses SMA from above.

Exit Conditions

Stop-loss for Long positions should be set to the Low of the last candle before the cross occurred. For Short positions — to the High of the last candle before the cross.

Take-profit should depend on the stop-loss and should be not less that stop-loss. I recommend setting TP to 1.5 * SL or 2 * SL.

If another cross appears before the stop-loss or take-profit are triggered close the position.

Example:

As seen on the example chart, entry conditions are quite clear and with the proper TP/SL ratio, this strategy can be quite profitable.

Market Profile

Market Profile Meta Trader Indicator — is a classic Market Profile implementation that can show the price density over time, outlining the most important price levels, value area and control value of the daily trading session. This indicator can be attached to M5, M15 and M30 charts and will show the Market Profile for the daily sessions. Although M5 timeframe offers higher precision, M30 timeframe is recommended due to its better visibility. Three different color schemes are available to draw the profile's blocks. This indicator is based on bare price action and doesn't use any standard MetaTrader indicators. It's available for both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms.

Input Parameters:

• Start From Date (default = '') — if StartFromToday is false then the indicator will start drawing profiles from this date. It draws to the past. For example, if you set it 2010.07.20 and DaysToCount is 2 then it will draw the profiles on 2010.07.20 and 2010.07.19.
• Start From Today (default = true) — if true then the indicator starts drawing from today, else — from the date in StartFromDate.
• Days To Count (default = 2) — for how many daily sessions to draw the market profiles.
• Color Scheme (default = 0) — color scheme for profile's blocks:
  
  • 0 — blue to red.
  • 1 — red to green.
  • 2 — green to blue.
• Median Color (default = White) — color of the control value (median).
• Value Area Color (default = White) — color of the value area border.

The chart screenshot shows Market Profiles calculated and displayed for two daily Forex trading sessions. The timeframe is M30 and the second daily session is still in progress. The earliest prices are blue and the latest prices are red. The medians and the value areas are marked with the white lines and display the most important price areas. Traders tend to return to those areas if the volume of the breakout movement isn't too high. High-volume breakout out of these areas signifies a real breakout.

How News Affect Forex?

The global financial markets are interconnected and depend greatly on the financial and macroeconomic statistics. The Forex market is not an exception. Currency rates — the basic instruments of the foreign exchange market — are affected by the by major financial news, fundamental statistical reports and important geopolitical events. But nothing compares to seeing the actual effects of the news on the Forex market. Here you will find three major examples of such influence.

Monetary Actions

Such news as monetary policy decisions by the major central banks have an immediate impact on the currency pairs. If the interest rate is changed too fast or too slow, or an unexpected comment is made about the future interest rate changes, the currency pairs rally or fall with a speed of light. When the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the U.S. Federal Reserve announced its first rate cut from 5.25% to 4.75% on September 18th, 2007, after a long series of the rate hikes, it pushed EUR/USD up. On the EUR/USD hourly chart below you can see a jump in the rate as the dollar lost a part of its attractiveness with the lower interest rate and the euro advanced. The reaction has been instant and a strong bullish trend has followed afterwards:

Macroeconomic Releases

Another important type of Forex news that has a strong and immediate impact on the currency rates is the macroeconomic releases and reports. One of the most noticeable effect belongs to the U.S. quarterly GDP data releases. If the reported quarterly change differs from the expected value or is simply significantly above/below the previous quarter, currency market react with unpredictable fluctuations. When the Bureau of Economic Analysis (U.S. Department of Commerce) released its advance GDP report for Q2 2008 on July 31st, 2008, a sharp spike appeared on all dollar-related pairs. The reported change was +1.9%, which was below the expected +2.3% value. The presented chart shows EUR/USD hourly price movement with a strong spike-like candle exactly after the GDP report has been published:

Geopolitical Events

Some global geopolitical events have a considerable influence on the Forex market. Wars, political scandals, elections, peace treaties, nuclear bomb tests and terrorist attacks usually result in a lot of consequences and expectations regarding those consequences. And the currency rates respond to such events with the fluctuations that end up in termination of the old trends and setting up of the new long-term trends. September 11th attacks upon the United States was a major global event that was followed by unprecedented geopolitical consequences — war in Afghanistan and Iraq, higher spending on U.S. war budget and a higher U.S. fiscal debt. It can be seen on the EUR/USD monthly chart below that the September was one of the pivotal points in trend reversal from a bearish one to a bullish one. The dollar has been falling since then:

As you see, the impact of the news on the Forex market can’t be ignored. Whether you trade intraday or long-term, your currency positions will be affected by the Forex news. That’s why it’s important for the currency traders to monitor all the related news and make the market decisions in relation to them.

Israel’s Sheqel Falls On Dollar Purchase Speculations

The Israeli currency had the sharpest fall in 4 months today as the government is likely to increase a dollar purchasing program to stimulate the national currency.

The Government of Israel started a program last year when the global slump had its worst moment to increase national exports competitiveness, buying U.S. dollar as an attempt to weaken the national currency. Today, the Israeli sheqel was amongst the worse performing world currencies losing more than 2 percent versus the greenback after the national central bank indicated that it may purchase more than $100 million a day in order to help the nation’s exporters.

USD/ILS traded at 3.8800 as of 21:19 GMT from an opening rate today of 3.7913.

If you want to comment on the Israeli sheqel’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Mexican Peso Advances On Higher Risk Appetite

The Mexican peso advanced today on the outlook that the demand for the higher-yielding assets will increase after the talks about the aid package for Greece will be concluded.

According to the words of the Greek Finance Minister the talks about the bailout package, provided by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund should be “concluded rather soon.” This announcement sparked expectations that the Greece’s crisis can be resolved with the satisfactory outcome, boosting the investors’ confidence and the risk appetite.

USD/MXN traded at about 12.1563 as of 14:40 GMT today after it opened at 12.1721.

If you want to comment on the Mexican peso’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Mexico’s Peso Rises On Crude Oil & US Stocks

The Mexican peso strengthened against the US dollar today for the fourth day as crude oil gained and the US equities went up, making Mexico’s peso the best performing currency of Latin America.

Prices for crude oil, one of the main sources of revenue for Mexico, rose 2.9 percent to $76.40 per barrel. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.5 percent. The Mexican currency advanced 0.1 percent last week.

USD/MXN fell from 12.878 to 12.855 as of 9:28 GMT today.

If you want to comment on the Mexican peso’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Mexican Peso Fluctuates On Growth Concern & Favorable Outlook

The Mexican peso fluctuated today, following the yesterday’s decline, amid the speculations that the import in China diminishes, increasing the concerns that the global economy might falter.

Imports of copper and copper products into China fell to 328,231 metric tons (17 percent) in June from May. Copper prices have declined 10 percent in 2010 on the speculations that demand would fall. Some analysts say, though, that fundamentals should push the Mexican currency higher in the second half of this year.

USD/MXN traded near its opening price of 12.828 today as of 8:20 GMT.

If you want to comment on the Mexican peso’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Mexican Peso Weakens On Bad News From U.S

The Mexican peso weakened today, falling against the dollar for the whole week, after the reports showed that the index of the pending home sales in the U.S. fell and the jobless claims unexpectedly increased.

The U.S. is Mexico’s biggest trading partner. Therefore, the troubling news about the U.S. house market and the employment had its negative impact on Mexico’s currency.

USD/MXN traded near 13.017 as of 8:39 GMT today after it opened at 13.004.

If you want to comment on the Mexican peso’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Mexican Peso Rises As Consumer Prices Slow

The Mexican peso gained today for a third straight day against the U.S. dollar as the crude oil prices rose and on the expectation that the central bank won’t rise the interest rates after the consumer prices fell more than predicted.

The consumer prices dropped 0.63 percent in May from April. The prices for crude oil, which is Mexico’s biggest export, rose 3.3 percent to $74.38 per barrel today. The analysts think that the central bank will raise the benchmark interest rate 0.25 percentage points to 4.75 percent by the end of this year.

USD/MXN fell to 12.827 as of 10:08 GMT today from its opening level of 12.859.

If you want to comment on the Mexican peso’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Mexican Peso Falls On U.S. Jobs Report & European Crisis

The Mexican peso fell today on the concerns that the global recovery may slow, fueled by the lower than expected payrolls in the U.S. and the sovereign-debt crisis in Europe.

The analysts expected that nonfarm payroll employment in May would increase by 521,000, while the actual growth was only 431,000 and the private sector added only 41,000 jobs. The threat of the debt crisis’s expansion across the Europe still destabilizes the global markets, affecting the peso.

USD/MXN traded near 12.9887 as of 08:43 GMT today after it opened at 12.9321.

If you want to comment on the Mexican peso’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Mexican Peso Strengthens As China Brings Relief To Markets

The Mexican peso rose today as the announcement of the Chinese government that it doesn’t plan to stop investing in Europe brought the respite to the global markets.

The forecasts for the Mexico’s economic growth range from 4.3 percent (the pace in the first quarter of this year) to 4.5 percent. Despite these optimistic forecasts for the economy’s growth, the Mexican currency considered vulnerable to the risk aversion sentiment in case the global markets experience yet another turmoil.

USD/MXN traded at about 12.7985 as of 9:35 GMT today down from the opening level of 12.8010.

If you want to comment on the Mexican peso’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Mexican Peso Drops With Oil Prices & Higher Unemployment

The Mexican peso weakened today as the debt crisis threats to spread across the Europe, curbing the commodity prices, and on the increasing unemployment rate.

Crude oil, the biggest source of the export income, forming about a third of the country’s budget, dropped 4.4 percent before settling at $68.75 per barrel today in New York. The unemployment rate climbed to 5.4 percent in April from 4.8 percent in March, while the analysts expected the lower unemployment.

USD/MXN traded today at 12.9879 as of 9:45 GMT up from the opening level of 12.9864.

If you want to comment on the Mexican peso’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Mexican Peso Drops As Crude Oil Tumbles

The Mexican peso tumbled today against the U.S. dollar as crude oil declined, dragging along with it the currencies tied to commodities, and with increasing global risk aversion sentiment.

Mexico, being the second biggest supplier of crude oil in the world, greatly depends on oil prices, which dropped 4 percent to $82.74 a barrel today on NYMEX. The budget deficit problems in Europe negatively affect the global risk sentiment, also weakening the peso.

USD/MXN traded near 12.5998 as of 11:19 GMT today up from the opening price of 12.5316.

If you want to comment on the Mexican peso’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Industrial Expansion Aids Mexican Peso

The Mexican peso gained today as the industrial production expanded more than expected signaling about the increasing pace of Mexico’s economic recovery.

The industrial production in Mexico expanded 7.6 percent in March from the previous year. This added confidence in the currency of the country, which economic recovery was a bit slow recently. The yield on Mexican 10 percent peso bond maturing in 2024 dropped 0.04 percentage point to 7.64 percent.

USD/MXN traded at about 12.3355 as of 08:36 GMT today down from the opening price of 12.3360.

If you want to comment on the Mexican peso’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Rating Downgrades Drop Icelandic Krona

The Icelandic krona declined to the lowest level in almost seven years against the U.S. dollar yesterday after the rating downgrades by S&P and Fitch rating agencies raised the risk-averting mood among the investors.

The drop in this national currency reached more than 17 percent this week after the central bank pledged to nationalize the century-old Glitnir Bank as it failed to pay by its short-term debts. Investors believe that the central bank won’t be able to help all the banks and the country will face a strong financial crisis.

The USD/ISK is rising for the sixth day in a row now — the longest rally in more than 3 months. Traders lose confidence in the financial system, the Central Bank of Iceland and its ability to resist crisis. That plays against the krona’s value.

USD/ISK rose from 108.16 to 111.29 as of 13:12 GMT today. It reached 111.51 rate yesterday — the highest rate since November 2001 after closing at 94.35 at the last week’s trading session.

Good Risk Sentiment Bolsters Canadian Dollar

The brighter outlook for the economic growth of the US and China bolstered the stocks and the commodity prices today, improving the risk sentiment. The investors’ willingness to risk benefited the Canadian dollar, which jumped to the highest level in three weeks.

China’s industrial output advanced 13.9 percent in August from the previous year and the annual growth of the retail sales were 18.4 percent last month. The report about the US retail sales will be released tomorrow; the analysts expect it to show the 0.3 percent growth. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 1.1 percent and October delivery for crude oil, the main Canadian export, reached $78.04 per barrel.

The sentiment also improved after the Basel Committee on Banking Supervisiongave lenders eight years to comply with higher capital requirements. The optimistic mood helped to appreciate the currencies linked to the economic growth, including the Canadian dollar.

USD/CAD went down from 1.0333 to 1.0284 today as of 17:02 GMT after dropping to 1.0268, the lowest level since August 19th. The euro was bolstered by the good sentiment even more than the loonie, therefore EUR/CAD rose from 1.3129 to 1.3230, following the advance to the intraday high of 1.3253.

If you want to comment on the Canadian dollar’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Poor Retail Sales Undermine Confidence In Canadian Dollar

The poor economic data continues to come from Canada as the report today showed that the Canadian retail sales unexpectedly decreased, signaling that Canada’s economic growth is losing momentum and driving the Canadian dollar down.

The retails sales dropped 0.1 percent in July, after there was no change in the month earlier. The actual reading was far worse than forecasts promised (0.5 percent growth). Today’s data, together with yesterday’s report about the falling consumer prices, undermined investors’ confidence in the strength of Canada’s economy and currency.

The news outside Canada weren’t helping the loonie either, as the data from the US and the decision of the Federal Reserve to keep the US interest rates at their record low levels show the economic weakness of the US, Canada’s biggest trading partner. It looks everything is against the Canadian currency, making it the worst performer among other major currencies today.

USD/CAD went up from 1.0266 to 1.0331 today as of 16:58 GMT after it declined to the intraday low of 1.0191. EUR/CAD jumped from 1.3615 to 1.3813.

If you want to comment on the Canadian dollar’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Poor Economic Reports Signal About Slower Recovery, CAD Down

The Canadian dollar fell today as the investors’ sentiment shifted to the risk aversion after the reports from the US, Europe and Canada itself signaled that the global recovery is faltering, decreasing the appeal of the growth-relatedcurrencies. The currency rose against the euro.

The claims for the unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week in the US from 453,000 to 465,000. The manufacturing and services industries in the European countries, including Germany and France, declined noticeably more than predicted. The reports from Canada this week showed that the inflation grew slower than forecast and the retail sales unexpectedly shrank.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce forecast that the economy would grow less than 2 percent in each of the next three quarters through March 2011. The outlook for the slower economic growth makes the economists expect that the Bank of Canada would normalize the interest rates more gradually.

USD/CAD rose from 1.0302 to 1.0334 today as of 19:56 GMT, following the advance to 1.0377. EUR/CAD slipped from 1.3808 to 1.3763 after it reached the intraday high of 1.3862.

If you want to comment on the Canadian dollar’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.

Good Economic Reports From US & Europe Push Loonie Higher

The Canadian dollar went up today against the US dollar, paring previous losses, as the German business sentiment unexpectedly increased and the number of the US durable good orders grew, increasing the attractiveness of the growth-related currencies. The currency later weakened somewhat but remained above the opening level. The loonie fell versus the euro.

The new orders for the US durable goods, excluding transportation, grew 2.0 percent in August, following the 2.8 percent decline in July. The analysts expected 0.9 percent growth. The Ifo Business Climate for industry and trade in Germany has again slightly improved in September, as a result the Ifo Business Climate Index rose from 106.7 to 106.8. The increase was small, but it’s not bad anyway, considering the forecasts promised a decline.

The loonie, as the Canadian currency nicknamed, rose also as the stocks rallied and the prices for crude oil, the main Canada’s export, increased. The MSCI World Index of stocks went up 1.6 percent, following the decline by 0.4 percent. November delivery for crude oil gained as much as 1.9 percent.

USD/CAD dropped from 1.0431 to 1.0270 today as of 17:07 GMT, following the decline to the intraday low of 1.0225. EUR/CAD went up from 1.3769 to 1.3837.

If you want to comment on the Canadian dollar’s recent action or have any questions regarding this currency, please, feel free to reply below.