FX Overnight Briefing

Financial News - US & Far East

• U.S. Stocks rose
• USD to new high
• Oil declines
• RICS data improves

Today's Main Events

• GBP - CPI
• USD - Trade balance
• JPY - GDP

American Timezone:

Stocks rose

U.S. stocks rose, adding to the biggest weekly gain since April, after oil's drop to a 14-week low boosted retailers and credit card companies. All but one of the 29 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Retailing Index advanced as crude retreated for a second day and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Wal-Mart Stores Inc. may increase its profit forecast. Financial shares contributed the most to the S&P 500's rally as American Express Co., Discover Financial Services and Capital One Financial Corp. each gained more than 2 percent.

USD rose to 5½ month high

The dollar increased to a 5 1/2-month high of 1.4881 against the euro on speculation a drop in commodity prices will boost U.S. consumer spending.

The yen and the Swiss franc rose against most of the other major currencies as concern the U.S. slowdown is spreading led investors to reduce holdings of higher-yielding assets and pay back low cost loans in Japan and Switzerland.

Oil declined further

Crude oil fell more than USD4 a barrel to a 14- week low of USD112.79 on signs that the U.S. economic slump will extend into 2009, crimping fuel demand, before recovering to the USD114.50 level towards the end of trading.

Far East Timezone:

Japan July wholesale prices higher

Japanese wholesale prices rose 7.1 % in July from a year earlier, Bank of Japan data showed on Tuesday, well above the median forecast of economists for a 5.8 % rise.

The corporate goods price index (CGPI) tracks trends in the wholesale prices of goods.

RICS data improves

Tighter mortgage lending conditions continued to dampen UK housing market activity in July, with transactions collapsing to a new record low, and only a minor improvement in the percentage of surveyors reporting higher house prices, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said on Tuesday.

In its monthly survey of the sector, RICS said 83.9 % of its members reported house prices were falling rather than rising, a small improvement on the 86.9 % that reported lower prices in June. This beats analysts' expectations that 85 % would report lower prices, although RICS said the price balance "remains at a significantly low level".

Jyske Markets - FX Research
http://www.jyskebank.dk/finansnyt

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