Message-ID: <12709242.1075861039656.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 16:11:51 -0800 (PST) From: info@forexnews.com To: sara.shackleton@enron.com Subject: Japanese Preview Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-From: @ENRON X-To: Shackleton, Sara X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Sara_Shackleton_Mar2002\Shackleton, Sara\Deleted Items X-Origin: Shackleton-S X-FileName: sshackl (Non-Privileged).pst [IMAGE] Forums Discuss these points in the Forums: Forexnews Forum T= echnicals Live Charts Analysis available from: Cornelius Luca J.P. Chorek= Technical Research Ltd. Charts & News featuring Standard & Poor's = Interest Rates US: Japan: Eurozone: UK: Switzerland: 1.75% 0.15% 3.= 25% 4.0% 1.25-2.25% [IMAGE] =09 [IMAGE] Japanese Forex Trading Pre= view February 5, 7:00 PM: EUR/$..0.8677 $/JPY..133.79 GBP/$..14150 $/CHF..= 1.6973 Japanese Forex Trading Preview by Darko Pavlovic No key data. T= he yen had its biggest fall in four months vs. the dollar of 134.29 after N= ikkei fell to 18 years low and S?downgraded the ratings for seven large Jap= anese banks. Another rating agency Moody's was reviewing seven major life i= nsurance companies for possible downgrades. The Japanese currency remained = beset by pessimism after opinion polls showed that support for Prime Minist= er Koizumi was waning, and thus may hinder the implementation of critical s= tructural reforms. The yen fell 1.5% to 134.29 from 132.35 yen a 1 1/3 slid= e. The most current poll showed that only 49% of the public supports Koizum= i, down from 72% last month. As the U.S. President Bush's visit to Japan ap= proaches in mid-month it is likely that Bush would give additional support = for the structural reform initiative led by PM Koizumi. But some analysts b= elieve there is a shift in a US stance from bad loans cleanup to economic g= rowth. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill who visited Japan last month said to= his counterpart Shiokawa that the U.S. wants to see Japan return to a grow= th. The FSA submitted to the ruling LDP a report stating that the banks' di= sposals of bad loans should be completed within two to three years, as plan= ned. The government plans to clear about 12 trillion yen worth of loans out= of the 20 trillion yen in bad debts held by large banks by the end of Sept= ember 2002. New bad loans created since October 2000 should be disposed of = by September 2003.In yesterday's trading December index of leading economic= indicators stood at 30.0 below 50 mark for the seventh straight month, sug= gesting the economy continues to suffer from declining consumer spending an= d capital investment while industrial output remains weak. As the BoJ start= s its two day meeting this Thursday and Friday there are some market rumors= that the central bank could adopt a positive inflation target. USD/JPY res= istance is eyed at 134.0, 134.40 and 134.80. Support is seen at 132.0, 131.= 50 and 131.25. EUR/USD is trading around 86.80, falling from a one week hi= ghs of 87.30 in spite of better-than-expected showing in the Eurozone Servi= ces index that broke above the key 50-level to 51.0 in January from the pre= vious 49.2, thus denoting an expansion in the sector. The EU business clima= te indicator also improved to -1.03 from -1.21, marking its strongest readi= ng since last September. Bank of France Governor Trichet remarked later tha= t French growth would be better in January than in December 2001, corrobora= ting the optimism suggested by the indicators.The euro was hurt after Bild= newspaper announced that German January unadjusted unemployment rose by 3= 26,000 to 4.29 mln, thereby lifting the unemployment rate to 10.4% in Janua= ry from 9.6% in December. Support holds at 86.35, 86.0 and 85.55-- the 71.8= % Fibonacci retracement of the move from 82.25 to 95.95. Resistance is view= ed at 87.50, 88.0 and 88.30. Tomorrow morning's release of US Q4 producti= vity is forecasted to surge to 2.9% from the previous 1.5%, as a result of = a reduction in hours worked. Meanwhile, unit labour costs are seen to fall = to its lowest level since Q4 '99 to 0.7% in Q4 '01 from the previous 2.3%. = Recall that strong US productivity has been attributed as the main reason b= ehind the dollar's sustained strength despite the US economic downturn and = the current account deficit. Thus markets will be awaiting the productivity= data to determine whether the dollar's strength is justified. This week's= other key US indicators include jobless claims, consumer credit and wholes= ale trade. From the Eurozone, major economic releases consist of German une= mployment, ECB rate decision, German manufacturing orders, German industria= l production and Dutch CPI. UK indicators comprise the NTC/FRES Report on J= obs, housing starts, industrial production and the Bank of England's rate d= ecision. Highlights from Japan are the ESRI Tokyo consumer sentiment, money= supply, wholesale prices and machinery orders. Over the weekend, currency = traders will be carefully monitoring any developments at the G7 meeting in = Toronto for any mention of the weak yen or strong dollar policies. =09[I= MAGE] Audio Mkt. Analysis Yen Crushed Amid Nikkei Slide Articles & Id= eas Dollar Does Davos In New York USD/JPY: ONeill, Koizumi and January E= ffect Articles & Ideas Forex Glossary Economic Indicators Forex G= uides Link Library [IMAGE] =09 =09=09[IMAGE][IMAGE] [IMAGE][IMAGE]=09 =09=09 This e-mail is never sent unsolicited. If you wish to unsubscribe f= rom this or any other Forexnews.com newsletters, please click here . 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