NEWS / Foreign Exchange

European Forex Recap

• Dow Jones Industrial average closed Friday??™s session higher by 15.44 points at 13,120-94

• Peoples Bank of China raised its ???reserve requirement ratio??? by 50 basis points

• European attention over the weekend focused on Turkey as almost a million people marched in demonstration through the streets of Istanbul against the government. The Turkish Lira was up 400 points on the Monday open from Fridays close.

• Rumors abound that another hedge fund is in trouble and has been supposedly liquidating yield positions.

• FX rates as at 11.40pm EST GBP/USD 1.9961/65  EUR/USD 1.3644/47  USD/JPY 119.51/54  USD/CHF 1.2043/47  USD/CAD 1.1157/62  AUD/USD 0.8279/83  NZD/USD 0.7389/93

• Japanese Markets closed today for the first day of Golden Week.

• German Retail Sales in March were -0.7% m/m (2.00am EST)

• This week should be a quiet week as the Japanese celebrate Golden Week (markets are open Tuesday and Wednesday) and most European countries celebrate May Day on Tuesday but will build up to a crescendo with Non-Farm Payrolls on Friday.

• Italian PPI for March was +0.4% m/m +3.8% y/y from +4.0% y/y in February (4.00am EST)

• UK Mortgage Approvals increased in march from 54,659 in February to 75,098, cable remained unchanged on the news at 1.9906/11 (4.30am EST)

• Euro-land HICP for April rose 1.8% m/m as expected (5.00am EST)

• Italian preliminary HICP for April rose 0.5% m/m +1.7% y/y from +2.1% in March. This was the lowest increase in over 7 years (5.00am EST)

• European Commission??™s Economic Sentiment index for April slipped slightly from 111.1 in March to 111.00. The Business Climate Index was at an all time high in April at 1.61 from 1.54 in March (5.00am EST)

• UK GfK Consumer Confidence in April -6 from -8 in March better than most forecasts of no change from the previous month. Cable now trading with a slightly better bid tone at 1.9914/19 (5.30am EST)

• Cable having probed below 1.9900 to a low of 1.9892 has bounced back and currently trades 1.9927/32 buoyed by the better than expected consumer confidence numbers earlier (6.00am EST)

• FX rates as at 6.55am EST GBP/USD 1.9939/44  EUR/USD 1.3610/13  USD/JPY 119.58/61  USD/CHF 1.2084/88  USD/CAD 1.1162/67  AUD/USD 0.8275/79  NZD/USD 0.7394/98

Economic data due out later today

8.30am   EST US Personal Consumption and Expenditure for March

8.30am   EST US Personal Income for March

8.30am   EST Canadian GDP for February

9.00am   EST US NAPM index for April

9.45am   EST US Chicago PMI for April

10.00am EST US Construction spending for March

Ranges since 5pm EST Sunday

GBP / USD:                 1-9892             1-9970

EUR / USD:                 1-3590             1-3648

USD / JPY:                  119-17             119-76

USD / CHF:                 1-2032             1-2105

USD / CAD                 1.1149             1.1195

AUD / USD                 0-8257             0-8294

NZD / USD                 0-7372             0-7405