Forex Yellow Pages

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stock markets recovered Wednesday as better-than-expected U.S. data gave investors hope of a turnaround in the world’s largest economy and helped offset their fears of a swine flu pandemic.

After two days of declines, most of the region’s major markets posted broad-based gains. Airline stocks, slammed in recent days amid worries about the disease’s toll on travel, rebounded sharply. The dollar strengthened against the yen, while oil prices were steady.

Investors were cheered after a closely watched measure of U.S. consumer confidence soared in April, suggesting Americans may be ready to spend again — a boon for export-driven Asian countries. An easing in the pace of home price declines also boosted sentiment. Read more…

The Yen has been the main story overnight as the currency has re-established its safe-haven status with the potential “swine flu� pandemic sending cautious investors to the sidelines. The fact that the health concerns are based in the Western hemisphere has heightened concerns as it could negatively impact the U.S. economy where the most stimulus has been enacted and is the expected source of growth to help stem the current global downturn.

Talking Points
• Japanese Yen: Finds Support On “Swine Flu� Fears
• Pound: Housing Markets Continues to Show Weakness
• Euro: Deflation Concerns Remain
• US Dollar: Durable Goods Orders On Tap

Dollar, Yen Find Support On “Swine Flu� Pandemic Fears, Adding To Concerns Over Bank Stress Tests

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Market sentiment has stabilized over the past week as traders wait for fundamentals to either catch up to optimism or draw the budding recovery to a grinding halt. Ongoing earnings releases, first quarter growth reports from the world’s largest economies and a series of meetings attended by global policy makers can decide the fate of growth and optimism for months to come.

• Dollar, Yen And Risk Appetite Await G20 Meeting And US GDP
• Do Better Than Expected Earnings Signal A Turn For The Economy?
• Where Will Optimism Develop Without Confirmation Of A Recovery?

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A consensus has formed that the government’s massive money printing and debt-powered spending binge will soon destroy the destroy the dollar, crippling the remaining savings of anyone dumb enough not to buy “real” assets–like gold.

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(Reuters) – U.S. banks will be briefed by regulators as early as Friday on how they performed in government “stress tests,” before the results are made public later, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing government officials.

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Forex Trading Outlook April 20th, 2009. Forecast for Dollar, Yen, British Pound and Swiss Franc. Also include a brief outlook of US Stock Markets in regards to Bank of America and IBM.

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- Euro Breaks Below 1.3000 – German ZEW Survey Could Impact Trade on Tuesday
- British Pound Tumbles Against Safe-Havens – UK CPI May Fall Back Into BOE’s Inflation Target Range
- Canadian Dollar Under Pressure Ahead of Bank of Canada Rate Decision – What to Expect

US Dollar, Japanese Yen Rally on Flight-to-Quality as Investors Fear Results of US Bank Stress Tests
The US dollar and Japanese yen surged on Monday as risk aversion shook the markets once again. Indeed, there is substantial uncertainty about the health of the financial markets as the US government performs stress-tests on the 19 biggest US financial institutions, and the results will not be announced until May 4. Until then, investors could remain jittery, especially when they see announcements like the one released by Bank of America today, as they said the net charge-off rate rose to 2.85 percent from 1.25 percent a year earlier, while credit-card losses increased to 8.62 percent from 5.19 percent. With the US recession lingering on and job losses accelerating, banks may find that they are persistently weighed down by consumers’ inability to pay. Read more…