After losing significantly during most of this Wednesday’s session as risk aversion prevailed globally, the kiwi rebounded in currency markets as retail sales advanced in the country reviving the confidence regarding the Southern Pacific economy.

The New Zealand dollar had its worse decline in two months this Wednesday as consumer prices showed negative figures, but a retail sales report published in this Thursday early morning in the country revived confidence in the currency as figures came better than forecasts suggested.

NZD/USD traded at 0.7227 as of 12:51 GMT from as low as 0.7185 hours earlier.

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

After a week of losses versus most of the main traded currencies in

foreign-exchange markets, the Brazilian real advanced today fueled by a positive performance in commodities and equities markets.

The Brazilian real gained today versus the yen and the U.S. dollar as demand for commodities and optimism regarding the nation’s economy allowed the South American currency to revert a negative trend that lasted five consecutive days. A great sum of capital inflows to Brazilian stocks also influenced on the good performance of the real this Monday.

USD/BRL traded at 1.7661 as of 19:54 GMT from an opening rate of 1.7715.

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

The Japanese currency declined in the beginning of this Thursday’s session on Australia’s better than expected employment data, which increased attractiveness for riskier assets as the South Pacific economy recovery improves confidence among traders.

The yen, known as the best refuge currency for times of uncertainty, declined today as unemployment surprisingly fell in Australia, bringing Japanese investors to buy riskier assets overseas, as the Australian economic recovery indicates better economic conditions not only in the South Pacific region but also among its main trading partners.

AUD/JPY traded at 85.01 as of 02:35 GMT from a previous rate of 83.89 in the intraday chart.

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

The Canadian dollar profited from a higher risk appetite session today and rebounded versus the yen and its U.S. counterpart as equities rose in North America, allowing the correlated loonie to profit from this trading scenario.

After two days losing in currency markets as concerns that the Canadian economic recovery is not as robust as analysts suggested, the loonie rebounded today, profiting from a positive performance of stocks and commodities, which have an extreme influence in the Canadian currency rates as raw materials exports are responsible for a big cut on the country’s international trade. The Canadian dollar also benefited from a less attractive U.S. dollar, which has been losing its appeal as the nation published several reports which featured data below forecasts, suggesting that interest rates will be not hiked so soon in the world’s wealthiest nation.

Demand for commodities is still playing a major role to back the loonie’s advance, as Canada’s economy, and consequently its currency, will rely on the global economic recovery in the first half of 2010 to determine whether demand for the nation’s raw materials will allow the country to recover steadily or not.

USD/CAD traded at 1.0304 as of 19:42 GMT from a previous rate of 1.0385 in the intraday. CAD/JPY rose to 88.60 from 87.52.

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.

The Australian dollar fell sharply versus

lower-yielding currencies today as a real estate report declined optimism regarding the South Pacific economy, in a day were commodities and equities markets which have a strong correlation with the Aussie, declined.

Basically everything worked against the Australian dollar today as a report in the country showed that new home loans decreased the most in more than a year, in a day were equities dropped and demand for commodities declined, after China imposed new lending requirements for banks.

AUD/USD declined to 0.9200 as of 19:38 GMT from a previous rate of 0.9310. AUD/JPY dropped to 83.64 from 85.64.

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

The dollar snapped four days of gains against the euro as the US economy returned to growth in the three months through September, officially exiting recession.

• The US government’s advance estimate showed gross domestic product grew at an annualised rate of 3.5% in the third quarter, the first rise since the second quarter of 2008, which beat expectations for a reading of 3.3%.
• The data reduced the safe-haven appeal of the greenback, encouraging investors to sell their dollar holdings in favour of growth-linked currencies, enabling the euro to climb over a cent on the day.
• Analysts did note however, that concern may still linger over whether the US economy will be able to sustain this level of growth as the government begins to unwind its stimulus packages.
• In addition, trading yesterday saw the European Commission’s economic sentiment indicator post a bigger-than-expected October rise. The index for the eurozone rose to 86.2 from 82.8 in September, beating expectations and lending support to the single currency‘s rally.

Sterling closed up against the dollar yesterday, but slipped back nearly a cent from its intra-day high after a survey showed that consumer confidence in the US disappointed market expectations.

• In early trading, the markets continued to take the pound higher with analysts noting that long term investors and Asian reserve managers were attracted by sterling’s one-week low.
• This trend was maintained as the UK CBI retail sales index advanced to a balance of +8 in October from a balance of +3 in September, the largest advance since June 2007, beating forecasts.
• There was also support for the UK currency as the oil giant BP reported third-quarter profits of $4.98bn (£3bn), which experts said “obliterated” market predictions.
• However, the dollar trimmed its losses in the afternoon after a survey revealed that US consumer confidence dropped in October. The index produced a figure of 47.7, substantially less than the 53.7 forecast, which cautioned traders against risky investments.
• The weak report bodes ill for the US economy indicating restrained consumer spending, and suggests that the recovery is not as entrenched as initially thought.

The pound posted gains against the aussie yesterday, reversing its steep fall at the end of last week as investors cashed profits, closing up 0.8% at 1.7822.

• The aussie was broadly weaker in trading yesterday as investors took the opportunity to take profits following sharp gains made on Friday.
• The price of gold also continued to fall yesterday, discouraging investment in the commodity linked currency. Gold quoted around 1053/oz yesterday, though probably due more to profit taking than lack of strength.
• In trading this morning, the aussie is slightly up on the day, though investors are likely to remain wary ahead of sales data in the UK and a consumer confidence survey in the US
• In addition, investors may well caution against long positions ahead of Thursday when the US 3 rd quarter GDP figure is released. The economy is forecast to have grown by 3.3% in the quarter, though if it undershoots this target it could trigger a wave of selling in riskier currencies.

The pound was broadly sold on Friday following a weak GDP figure, losing three cents to the kiwi dollar, to close back down at 2.1607.

• Data revealed that Britain’s economy has now shrunk for six quarters after it contracted by 0.4% in the most recent quarter, the longest period of contraction since records began in 1955.
• Analysts have now renewed their discussion over the possibility of the Bank of England retaining, or even extending, its £175 billion QE programme, which would compound sterling’s weakness.
• The news also confirmed that the BoE are likely to keep the benchmark interest rate at a record low of 0.5% firmly into 2010, lessening the appeal of sterling assets.
• In response, the markets took the kiwi nearer its multi-year highs hit earlier this month, and this trend has continued in trading this morning as investors continue to take their lead from Friday’s data.

In trading on Friday, the pound slipped back from two-week highs around the 1.8000 level against the aussie as a weak GDP figure dulled demand for the UK currency.

• A report showed that the UK failed to exit the recession in the third quarter of this year, giving the central bank more reason to keep enacting emergency measures to spur growth.
• The data showed that the UK contracted by a further 0.4%, disappointing expectations of a 0.2% expansion and firmly halting the pound’s progress.
• Where as in Australia interest rates have already been raised on the back of growing confidence in the economy, the UK may now be considering further loosening its monetary policies as recovery struggles to take hold.
• In trading this morning, the pound continues to fall, currently down 0.4% after the aussie received a boost from a Chinese report that suggested authorities were looking to diversify the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
• The report suggested that China may look to buy up euro’s and yen, which analysts said could also spill over into the aussie providing further demand.

The aussie dollar continued its upward trend yesterday, pushing on nearly one percent against the pound following bullish words from an RBA official.

• The Australian dollar rose as a Reserve Bank of Australia official said a move to “more normal” interest rates was appropriate, indicating that the yield gap may widen further.
• Philip Lowe, assistant governor of the RBA, also mentioned at the conference in Sydney that it was “appropriate” to remove monetary stimulus as the economy improves boosting demand for higher-yielding assets.
• The Australian currency also traded strongly during the Asian session with demand high as both the Nikkei and Shanghai Composite indices traded strongly.
• The RBA minutes from their most recent policy meeting, released early this morning, had a hawkish tone, which reinforced views of a steep interest rate hike next month.
• However, the aussie, which has broadly strengthened in response, is currently trading just marginally higher against the pound, with the price currently around 1.7650.

Having traded in the red during the morning session, the pound rebounded back over $1.64, climbing for the fifth consecutive day and reaching a near one-month high of $1.6422.

• The pound initially fell against the dollar, relinquishing last week’s gains after the Sunday Times said Bank of England policy maker Adam Posen may support an extension of the central bank’s asset-purchase programme.
• Posen added that he was “not worried about overshooting inflation right now,” which many analysts have said will become an issue as the economy begins to grow.
• Last week, following the words of Mr Fisher, the market moved to discount a scenario where it was more likely that asset purchases would be paused. However, these comments suggest that the question of QE is still a finely balanced decision.
• Sterling was able to reverse its losses in the afternoon, however, after the US markets opened strongly, with Dow Jones edging over 10,000, supporting risk appetite in the market.
• The dollar has advanced in trading this morning with markets awaiting Producer Price Index data from the US, released today at 13:30BST.

The single currency climbed to a two week high of 1.4815 yesterday as investors continued to sell the dollar to fund riskier trades.

• The single currency returned to its recent upward trend, initially climbing half a percent, as investors took up dollar selling in the wake of further evidence of global economic recovery.
• Australian employment data revealed a rise in jobs in September, reinforcing risk appetite and triggering broad dollar selling as its haven appeal weakened.
• The single currency held its gains in the afternoon after the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at a record low 1.0%, as the market expected.
• In his following statement, the ECB President, Jean-Claude Trichet told reporters that “the euro-area economy is stabilizing and is expected to recover at a gradual pace.”
• Additionally, Trichet was not as forceful about the need for a strong dollar as many had expected him to be, allowing the single currency to close up at 1.4793.
• The single currency has trimmed its position in trading this morning, after Ben Bernanke indicated that US monetary policy may have to be tightened as a recovery takes hold.

Sterling was unable to build on Wednesday’s gains, as trading between the pair held steady following a relatively muted market response from the two interest rate statements.

• Yesterday morning, the pair remained tightly range bound as investors held back from taking positions ahead of the rate statements from the two central banks.
• Analysts noted that people had taken sterling a lot lower recently and maybe now they were beginning to think that the BoE would not extend quantitative easing
• At midday it was revealed that the BoE did decide to hold both the interest rate and the asset purchase scheme at their current levels.
• However, sterling was unable to build on an intra-day high of 1.0916, as ECB President Trichet avoided seeming too dovish over the eurozone’s recovery.
• Trichet did speak of the need to be “prudent and cautious” over the coming months, but he acknowledged that the eurozone economy was stabilising, recovering at a gradual pace, which enabled the single currency to rebound in the afternoon.

The pound reversed its steady decline against the greenback yesterday as investors relinquished defensive positions ahead of today’s MPC announcement.

• Cautious investors initially sought safety ahead of the two key central bank meetings today, putting pressure on the UK currency.
• Additionally, in an interview, Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig said that the US central bank should start raising interest rates “sooner rather than later,” which buoyed confidence in the US economy.
• However, the greenback’s gains were limited, with the pound rebounding a cent from its intra-day low as investors felt that the market had gone too short on sterling positions ahead of today’s statements.
• In trading this morning, the dollar has been broadly sold as employment data in Australia beat expectations for a fall in jobs in September, with the rate actually falling to 5.7%.
• The pound has advanced nearly a cent, consolidating its positions above 1.60, although trading may be volatile following the MPC rate decision, announced at 12:00BST today.