EU Is Committed To Supporting Greece However No Concrete Plans On How They Will Support Have Been Released!

• The trading session yesterday was a rather nerve racking one with no significant relief for the EURUSD which was much anticipated. The EU summit was coming to an end and global media along with market participants were all expecting a concrete proposal to aid Greece with its fiscal difficulties. The outcome of the summit was an announcement for a commitment to help Greece however a lack of concrete details did disappoint the market. Focus will be now turning to the EcoFin Council meeting next week for any further details on how the EU will support its Greek neighbor. The ECB's Weber was quoted saying that the next step in unwinding the unconventional policies will be a gradual return to longer term tenders however this should not be a signal for future policy rates. In Germany today we had the release of Q4 GDP results which disappointed by coming in at 0% growth. EURUSD price action yesterday was between 1.3800 - 1.3600.
• In the US yesterday the main driver remained the EU summit and any announcements from EU representatives. In the financial calendar we had the US jobless claims reports which fell more than anticipated to 440K, however a lot of volatility is assumed in this report recently due to US holidays and bad weather.
• In New Zealand overnight we had the release of the retail sales report which came in flat at 0% disappointing the market which was expecting at 0.6% growth despite the selloff in the Australian Dollar. As of late the New Zealand Dollar has significantly underperformed against its main trading partner Australia. AUDNZD made a two month high at 1.2764 following the release of the report.
• Today's financial calendar will be an exciting one as we have various releases, EU GDP for Q4 will be expected at 0.4%, industrial production for EU is expected to grow by 0.3%. In the US we will have monthly retail sales reports, Michigan sentiment reports and Crude Oil inventories which will all rattle the markets today.

Currency to watch out for: EURUSD & USDJPY

The EURUSD pivot point is at 1.3735 with a preference to enter into short positions at 1.3725

The USDJPY pivot point is at 90.00 with a preference to enter short positions at 89.95

Today's calendar and market movers:

EU GDP Q4 expected to grow by 0.3%

US retail sales for January expected to grow by 0.3%

US Michigan Sentiment for February expected to come in at 75

Equity Markets:

US equities closed positive yesterday day with the DJIA and the SP500 closing 1.05% and 0.97% respectively. The European burses were mixed yesterday with the FTSE up 0.57% the DAX and the CAC closing up at -0.59% and -0.52% respectively. The NIKEI and the HSI at the time of righting is 1.29% and 0.1% respectively.

Markos Solomou
Easy Forex
http://www.easy-forex.com

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