Commodites Brief: Gold and Oil lower on stronger USD

Commodities overall have been falling during current month of February, with CRB index now below the 300 handle, last at 298, off its 2013 highs on Feb 01 at 305.56, about flat for the year so far. That includes Gold hitting Friday fresh 6-month lows below the key $1600 mark, at $1597, and Oil also down -1.12% by NY close, printing fresh 4-day lows at $95.41 for the WTCI, last at 95.58.

As for US 10 year bond yields stabilizing above the 2.01%, off Feb 01 highs at 2.06%, with USD printing fresh 1-month highs above 80.50. Today's ECB Draghi speech at 14:30 GMT before the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Committee in Brussels with US markets closed on holiday might bring some volatility to markets, currently at key levels such as the $1600 for Gold and the $95 for Oil.

Feb 18, 2013

Forex Flash: EUR/USD back to 1.20 lows - UBS

According to UBS strategist Syed Mansoor Mohi-uddin: “Our end 2013 forecast of the greenback rebounding to last year's high of 1.20 against the euro remains dependent on the Fed slowing down and ultimately ending its third round of quantitative easing,” the analyst says.

Forex: EUR/USD faces worsening technicals/fundametals

The G20 meeting turned out to be, as one would expect, uneventful on its false sense of being regarded as a potential currency shaker. The delivery of generalized statements prevailed as opposed to any aggressive rhetoric, mainly due to the diversity of self-interest policy views. Chances are that speculation about jawboning on currencies will now likely fade, with investors hopefully in search of other hopefully more meaningful drivers to set currency directions.