On forex markets, the Japanese Yen is still the centre of trading attention with huge moves over the last three trading days.

The Yen has now recovered the losses made against the Euro and Pound on Friday and is making a good first of doing the same against the US Dollar.

The EUR/JPY (Euro/Yen) is down 0.7% and the GBP/JPY (Pound/Yen) is down 0.75%. The USD/JPY is also down 0.75%, but needs to fall by the same margin again if it is to fully recover Friday’s losses.

Gold had a jittery but positive day. It rallied by nearly $25 to close slightly down on the day yesterday, indicating perhaps that the gold bugs haven’t given up yet, despite Friday’s mauling.

Devoid of any real heavy hitting economic announcements, stock markets spent the day grinding back and forth before finishing the day largely unchanged.

The Dow Jones (Wall Street) tends to cycle between big range days and small range days, almost on a daily basis.

After trading in a below average trading range like yesterday, the Dow is unlikely to trade in a tight range of the same size the following day.

In fact, the last time the Dow had a day with a below average trading range and followed it with a day with an even smaller range was July.

It may, therefore, pay to look for breakout trades today.

What’s moving:

The Yen: USD/JPY, GBP/JPY & EUR/JPY.

Today’s market movers:

Today’s top announcements include the release of the latest UK house prices from the Halifax at 09.00, followed by UK manufacturing data at 09.30.

In the afternoon, highlights include Canadian housing starts and the rate statement from the Bank of Canada. The USD/CAD could be one to watch today.

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Friday was a typically volatile Non Farm Payroll’s day.

The Dow Jones (Wall Street) initially shot up on the better than expected payroll numbers, then spent the rest of the day lurching between pessimism and optimism.

While stock markets expended a lot of energy going nowhere, there were some decisive moves on foreign exchange markets.

The Japanese Yen experienced is worst day since February, falling over 2.5% against the US Dollar.

The last few times the Yen had a disastrous day like Friday, it made back the ground lost over the course of the following week.

Early indications are that this week could follow the same form, so downside bets on the USD/JPY may be the way forward today.

In fact the USD/JPY is this morning’s biggest mover, swinging by 0.9% away from Friday’s close.

There are also big moves on other Yen pairs; the GBP/JPY is down 0.75% and the EUR/JPY down 0.6%.

Gold suffered a huge reversal on Friday, falling $50 as investors swung back into the US Dollar. Truth be told, investors will have needed little encouragement to book gains after such a spectacular rally.

What’s moving:

Betting against the Yen: USD/JPY, GBP/JPY & EUR/JPY

Today’s market movers:

Today’s main market moving events include Swiss retail sales at 08.15. Watch for any reaction on the USD/CHF.

Following this we have Canadian building permits at 13.30.

We also have two central bankers speaking, starting with ECB president Trichet speaking at 13.00 and the US Fed chairman speaking at 17.00.

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Financial markets such as the Dow Jones were set for a reasonable day yesterday, until weak financials torpedoed any hope of a Dow close above 10,500.

The Dow closed down 0.83%, while the high tech Nasdaq 100 fared a little better, falling just 0.44%.

Gold actually fell yesterday and at the time of writing is negative again today. Could the precious metal make two down days in a row for the first time since October 26th?

Today, all eyes will be on the latest Non Farm Payrolls number from the US. This monthly economic announcement is keenly followed and seen as a direct indictor of strength, or lack thereof, in the world’s biggest economy.

The trend since May has been of continuing job losses, but with the pace of decline lessening each month.

Today analysts are forecasting a decline of -119,000 jobs on the previous month which will be the smallest month on month drop since October 2008.

Will it be better or worse than this? If you want to bet on the Non Farm Payrolls, then a few ways to do this would be through the Dow Jones or US Dollar forex pairs such as the USD/JPY, GBP/USD or EUR/USD.

Yesterday the Yen came under further pressure, but so far today, no-one is willing to stick their neck out and most forex pairs are quiet ahead of the big announcement.

What’s moving:

The Yen: USD/JPY, GBP/JPY & EUR/JPY.

Today’s market movers:

Aside from US Non Farm Payrolls and Unemployment rate at 13.30 GMT, today we have Canadian employment change and unemployment rate at 12.00 GMT.

The big ticket is Non Farm Payrolls though so keep your eye on markets for a reaction around 13.30, especially the Dow Jones.

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Gold stole the headlines once again after making yet another record high yesterday, closing above $1,200 for the first time.

This morning the precious metal has pushed even higher, kissing the underside of $1225.

The weak Dollar is certainly playing a part as investors seek out a hedge to their exposure to the American currency.

However, now this doesn’t account for all the recent price action and pure speculation must be playing its part.

On currency markets, the Bank of Japan’s bid to weaken then Yen appears to be working. The Yen has been on the back foot these last few days and today is continuing in the same vein.

The Japanese currency is down 0.6% against the Dollar, 0.9% against the Pound and off nearly 1% against the Australian Dollar.

The US Dollar is weak in itself, falling around 0.3% against the Euro and Pound, but today’s hot money is strongly moving against the Yen.

The EUR/USD could be a focus of attention today with some major economic announcements from Europe and the US.

Last week the EUR/USD hit a 12 month high of $1.5145, will it breach that level once again today?

What’s moving:

Betting against the Yen: USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, AUD/JPY & GBP/JPY
Betting against the Dollar: GBP/USD, AUD/USD & EUR/USD

Today’s market movers:

We’ve a busy day ahead of us today. We start with UK Services data at 09.30 followed by European retail sales at 10.00. At 12.45 the European Central bank announces their latest interest rates. No change is expected but the press conference at 13.30 should cause some excitement.

At the same time, we have US unemployment claims, followed later by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testifying at 15.00. The EUR/USD could be the focus of attention today.

Analysts are predicting a loss of 149,000 jobs, but it’s worth noting that since June, the number has come in slightly worse than expected. Will this month be any different? Watch the EUR/USD and Dow Jones for an early reaction.

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Investors appeared to shake off concerns about the debt crisis in Dubai yesterday with the Dow Jones (Wall Street) poking its head about the 10,500 level for the first time since last October.

Things could get even more exciting with today’s ADP employment figures.

A classic way to trade these big news events is to wait for the big initial reaction, then the pullback which often follows.

If the initial spike takes the Dow even higher, it could be a good time for up bets in line with the general trade once the pull back has settled.

The renewed optimism put the Dollar under pressure again and caused commodities to rise once again. The chief beneficiary of all this was gold once again, which hit a new record high yesterday day and is trading even higher today.

Gold is currently trading at $1210, having rallied 15% in November and 77% since the most recent low $681 October 2008.

After yesterday’s surprise meeting from the Bank of Japan, the Yen is showing weakness for the second day on the trot. The Yen is the weakest currency across the board, falling by around 0.3% to 0.5% against most other currencies including the US Dollar.

What’s moving:

Betting against the Yen: USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, AUD/JPY & GBP/JPY

Today’s market movers:

The main event today is US ADP Non Farm Employment change at 13.15. This is often seen as a good predictor for Fridays Non Farm Payrolls, which ranks as one of the most important economic announcements each month.

Investors are expecting another negative number but, once again, showing significantly lower losses than the previous month.

Analysts are predicting a loss of 149,000 jobs, but it’s worth noting that since June the number has come in slightly worse than expected. Will this month be any different? Watch the EUR/USD and Dow Jones for an early reaction.

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The big news overnight was the emergency policy meeting from the central bank of Japan (BOJ).

News of this meeting caught has caused many to speculate that the BOJ will intervene in currency markets in some way to limit the gains of the Yen.

The strong Yen has been having a direct impact on the Japanese economy, just as the weak Dollar has been a boon for US exporters.

The Yen has quickly reversed track against most major currencies, especially the US Dollar (USD/JPY), British Pound (GBP/JPY) and Euro (EUR/JPY).

Today’s other market moving event has been the Royal Bank of Australia’s decision to raise rates to 3.75%. The move was largely predicted by economics, though it seems some people were looking for a bigger hike and the Australian Dollar has fallen back today.

Possibly a classic case of ‘buy the rumour, sell the news’.

Gold has been severely tested in the last three trading days, but so far it is holding up. Technical indicators are starting to turn down, however, so some down bets might not be a bad idea.

What’s moving:

Betting against the Yen: USD/JPY, EUR/JPY & GBP/JPY.

Today’s market movers:

Lots of announcements already out today, but there’s still a lot to come. At 07.00 we have the latest UK house prices from the Nationwide and at 07.30 we have the emergency BOJ press conference.

At 09.30 we have UK manufacturing data, following by similar economic news from the US at 15.00.US Pending Home sales close out what should be a busy day on the economic news front also at 15.00.

This website content does not constitute investment advice. No individual contributor, contributing company nor Online-Spread-Betting.com accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the content.