GFX Morning Commentary May 23rd, 2013

Good Morning,

Today’s suggested range for the Canadian dollar against the US Dollar 1.0300 – 1.0380

Today’s suggested range for the Canadian dollar against the Euro 1.3275 – 1.3350

Today’s suggested range for the Canadian dollar against Sterling 1.5550 – 1.5620

During the overnight Asian session a precipitous drop in the Nikkei plunging 7.3% followed by a sharp drop in USD/JPY of over 150 points was set off by a report showing Chinese manufacturing fell to 49.6 in May below the fifty level which is a sign of contraction. The Yen advancement along with the Swiss franc was investors moving back into  safe haven.

The European session is all red regarding the equity markets with the average index down 2%.
The Fed fears appear full blown when assessing the equity markets. The mixed messages coming from the Federal Reserve Chairman was initial relief after Bernanke played down any imminent tapering of the bond purchases that would remain dependent on  economic data going forward. The FOMC minutes revealed another  scenario where an exit strategy is in favour with many of the members with the next June meeting being plausible.
The USD dollar has weakened slightly against the Euro and Sterling from our closing levels but much uncertainty remains on the global recovery and the monetary policies of the central bankers.

The Canadian dollar is off its worst level from overnight with trading held to the 1.0300 level.
Canadian exporters are taking advantage of the current weakness with a lot of sell orders building over the 1.0400 level. The economic calendar is empty in Canada for the remainder of the week. In the U.S. today we have initial jobless claims ,housing price index and new home sales. The Dow futures are showing heavy loses to open down 110 points in pre-market trading. Gold has rallied while oil has retreated further on growth concerns.
Price action will remain choppy until more clarity unfolds regarding the U.S. Federal Reserve.
For today's FX opening FX rates and other FX resources please visit our Blog.  

Have a great day!

GFX Morning Currency Rates
Thursday May 23, 2013
Currencies	7:00am Today's Opening				Yesterday's Opening
USD/CAD		1.0331			1.0305
CAD/USD		0.968			0.9704
EUR/USD		1.2891			1.2929
EUR/CAD		1.3322			1.3327
STG/CAD		1.5585			1.5555
AUD/CAD		1.0039			1.0047
CAD/JPY		98.25			0.9984
CAD/CHF		0.9348			0.9458
CAD/HKD		7.4925			7.5082
CAD/CNY		6.1112			5.9468
CAD/MXN		12.0873			11.9764
Commodities
Gold		$1,390.00			$1,385.00
OIL		$93.39			$95.69
US DOLLAR INDEX
P.CLOSE		84.36			83.92
OPEN		84			83.91