Risk Appetite Grows - 3.12.2012

Monday morning trading was marked by a predominant increase in quotes. Asian markets were supported by the data coming out of China-the manufacturing HSBC index overcame the level 50(see the chart) for the first time in 13 months, reaching 50.5 (previous :49.5) HSBC PMI The growth leader among the large Asian-Pacific indexes is Australian ASX 200, gaining 0.57%, however the statistics coming from Australia this morning was not really inspiring -the Retail Sales remained at the same level in October, not showing any growth (see the chart). Australian dollar vs. US dollar initially lowered to 1-week low 1.0392 this morning but recovered a little after Chinese data. The RBA meeting is going to be held tomorrowand the interest rate decrease to 3% is not excluded. Australia, Retail Sales, MoM Euro today rose against US dollar, reaching 1.3046 - the pair has not been so high since the middle of October, despite the fact that at the end of last week the single currency came under pressure in the evening trading session on Friday, due to a decrease in credit rating of European stability funds (ESM, EFSF) by Moody's from Aaa to Aa1, outlook is negative. EURUSD, daily chart Japanese yen fell from Friday maximums around 82.70 down to 82.00 on Monday morning. The BOJ president, Masaaki Syrokava stated this morning that the Central Bank must not be guided only by market expectations in terms of monetary policy. Recall that the value of the yen against the US dollar dropped to 3.5% in mid-November on expectations of further monetary policy easing.