EUR/USD

From Danske Bank: The bank reports that Fed Chairman Bernanke reiterated his rhetoric as of late yesterday, saying the economy needs a stimulative monetary policy and therefore put an end to speculation that the Federal Reserve might consider ending its QE2 programme earlier than expected. “Even though this should not be a major surprise, it further added to dollar weakness and pushed EUR/USD above 1.37 for the first time since the ECB meeting last week,” they noted.

From TD Securities: Strategists at TD note that Eurozone politicians have planned a number of summit meetings for March “but time is of the essence and investors are telling Brussels that they are getting impatient.” They think rising investor anxiety should put more downward pressure on EUR/USD and see support at 1.3545/50.

From KBC: KBC reports that recent economic data out of the U.S. has not been strong enough to give USD additional support and question what theme will be the next driver for EUR/USD trading. “Of late, we indicated that we were not convinced that the time was ripe for a major rebound of the euro even as the pair broke temporary above important resistance levels,” they said.

USD/JPY

From TD Securities: TD comments in a research brief that USD/JPY is finding increased momentum as a result of weak Japanese data combined with investors seeking the safe-haven of USD. “We tend to think that USD/JPY has not adequately reflected the relative shift in interest rates in recent weeks and look for USD/JPY to push higher. We spot key medium term resistance at 83.55 now,” they noted.

From KBC: KBC reports that economic data released in the Asia/Pacific session saw Japan’s machine orders rising by 1.7% MoM. The data was however below economist’s expectations. “Asian equity markets are mixed with Chinese indices in positive territory while most other Asian markets are in the red. The dollar is better bid overall this morning. USD/JPY is gaining a few ticks,” they noted.

GPB/USD

From TD Securities: TD reports that as expected, the Bank of England left interest rate policy settings unchanged. “The markets had been pricing in the small risk of a tightening in policy, considering rising inflationary pressures in the UK and the perception that the central bank needs to bolster its anti-inflation credibility,” they noted. The pound rose against the euro in the aftermath of the decision.

From Standard Chartered Bank: Also commenting on the BoE’s decision, Sarah Hewin, a senior economist at Standard Chartered Bank said: “The BOE is going to wait and see whether headline inflation becomes embedded and the key indicator for that will be wages. At the moment wage growth is way below the level needed to impact inflation.”

AUD/USD

From TD Securities: TD reports that employment data from Australia, released in the Asia/Pacific session showed a 24K job gain in January compared to economist’s expectations of a 17.5K job gain. The unemployment rate remained at 5.0%. “However, markets seemed to focus more on the softer details, with full-time jobs down 8K and part-time jobs up 32K. However, the Stats Bureau noted that it had data collection issues due to the Queensland floods, so we may see some revisions next month,” they said.

From Danske Bank: Also commenting on Australian employment day, the bank reports that the Australian dollar declined as the employment report showed a drop in full-time employment. “However, a healthy 24,000 jobs were in fact added last month, which suggests that the Queensland flooding has so far not severely disrupted the Australian recovery. We thus expect the RBA to maintain its tightening bias,” they noted.

USD/CAD

From TD Securities: Strategists at TD note that CAD is trading slightly lower against the generally higher USD so far in the North American session but USD/CAD ranges continue to be relatively narrow, although the currency is outperforming on other crosses. “There is obvious resistance in the 1.0035/55 area so a clear push through this zone potentially opens up the topside much more (towards 1.02). We see support intraday at 0.9950/60 now,” they said in a research brief.

From Bank of Nova Scotia: Commenting on CAD falling to a one week low against USD as investors fled to the safe-haven currency, Camilla Sutton, head of currency strategy at Bank of Nova Scotia said: “It’s broadly risk-off, with equities weaker and commodities weaker. There was lots of overnight non-U.S. data that was disappointing. Canada is outperforming on the crosses just because of the strength in the U.S. dollar.”