Forex reserves dip below $300 bn

On August 15, forex reserves fell by $3.8 billion to $296.21 billion mainly on account of an appreciation of the dollar against other currencies. Foreign exchange reserves went above the $300-billion mark in February this year and touched an all-time high of $316.17 billion in the week ended May 23, Reserves have, however, declined for the last six weeks. Even during the previous week, foreign exchange reserves fell by $5.6 billion and the decrease was attributed to selling by foreign institutional investors due to volatility in the Indian stock markets.

Forex Trading Strategy: Japanese Yen

Yen rallies in currency tradingForex trading strategy should consider that the Japanese yen is on the rise right now. The yen is rallying in currency trading on the FX market as risk aversion sets in.

Most of the worries have to do with the U.S. financial markets. Concerns stemming from the financial sector are creating a situation in which investors are concerened about taking risks. This means that the yen carry trade is unwinding.

Dollar rally takes a breather as commodities rise

U.S. dollar slipped against the yen and a basket of currencies on Monday, weighed down by a recovery in oil prices which gave investors the opportunity to take profits on the greenback's recent sharp rally.

But the dollar's losses were limited by the rise in U.S. stock futures as oil prices slipped and geopolitical tensions eased after Pakistan's beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation on Monday. The uncertainty over Musharraf had earlier raised concern in the United States and among its other allies that the issue was distracting from efforts to control violent militants in the nuclear-armed nation.

The dollar has come off because investors have realized that it has moved too far, too fast. At some point you would expect a pause," said David Watt, senior currency strategist, at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto.

Bombay Stock Exchange launch currency futures on September

BSE Board of India (SEBI) will come next week to inspect our system, which is already in place, and we hope to launch the future contracts in currency by end of August or early September," the outgoing BSE managing director and CEO Rajnikant Patel said. Currency futures segment will be managed by a separate division of the exchange under a different structure and regulatory set-up. It will also have separate settlement from stock futures and cash segment as well as fresh set of members to participate in the currency futures market," Patel said.
SEBI for setting up the currency derivatives segment and is in line with the recommendations made by RBI-SEBI Standing Technical Committee report on currency futures which was released in May, It was also exploring strategic arrangements with entities in the forex market to gather domain expertise.

China revises forex rules to handle rising flows

China has revised basic rules governing its foreign exchange system for the first time in 11 years to cope with growth in its foreign reserves and rising cross-border capital flows, the government said on Wednesday.
The approval process for overseas investment by Chinese companies and individuals was simplified, the cabinet, the country's forex regulator and the central bank said in a joint statement published on the regulator's website . Chinese companies can now retain forex income offshore if they wish. Previously, they were required to sell their forex income to designated banks in China or deposit it in accounts at those banks.
The revised rules require financial institutions to report changes in clients' forex income and payments to regulators. The rules were last revised in 1997, at the time of the Asian financial crisis, when Beijing was anxious to prevent large outflows of money.
With its foreign exchange reserves soaring to a record $1.81 trillion at the end of June this year from $1.68 trillion in March, the country is now keen to limit destabilising net inflows of money due to a huge trade surplus and foreign investment.

Easy Forex Trading Platform Got SixtyThousand Registrations In One Month

Easy-Forex platform is based on the concept of Visual Trading™ which aims to simplify online foreign currency trading without compromising performance, CEO of the easy-forex group traders have responded positively.
We've obviously made a powerful move in the right direction and we intend to build on this with more products and features offering substantial new benefits, state of the art technology developed by Easy-Forex Technologies to provide an innovative new platform with a number of unique features such as The Inside Viewer™ and The Trade Controller.
Visual Trading Machine™ provides a quick display of the most current market information. Each element of the machine is designed to empower the user to make informed decisions about their portfolio of trades, optimizing their trading experience.
They can view the popularity and direction of 20 currency pairs being traded on the platform, and the aggregate structure of open deals. This feature sets a new standard of transparency amongst Forex platforms, users are encouraged to interact with the controls to set their desired stop-loss and take-profit values visually and simply.

Forex Ringgit Closes In Against Against US Dollar

The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar Monday on selling pressure as traders took the cue from the weak performance by regional currencies, dealers said.
At 5pm, the local currency declined to 3.2665/2695 from Friday's closing of 3.2620/2650.
The dealers said that traders were reluctant to take heavy positions due to lack of fresh leads.
In late trade, the ringgit traded mostly higher against other major currencies.
The local unit was marginally higher against the Singapore dollar at 2.3801/3841 compared with 2.3802/3853 last Friday and it was also firmer against the Japanese yen at 3.0231/0270 from 3.0322/0355 previously.
Against the British pound, the ringgit strengthened to 6.4311/4383 from 6.4519/4591 last Friday but it was easier against the euro at 5.0899/0958 from 5.0767/0820 previously

FOREX-Dollar near 1-mth high vs euro before US jobs data

The dollar edged up towards a one-month high against
the euro on Friday before monthly U.S. jobs data later in the day, with
investors viewing the report as a key hurdle for whether the U.S. currency can
sustain its rebound.
A mixed bag of U.S. data released the previous day showing the economy
expanding less than expected in the second quarter, a spike in jobless claims
but a pick-up in Midwest business activity did not prove decisive for the
dollar. [ID:nN31399964]
Investors are still looking for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates
later in the year, just as mounting signs of economic slowdown from the euro
zone to Australia have started to take a toll on other major currencies.
"The dollar proved surprisingly resilient despite Thursday's downbeat data,"
said Motonari Ogawa, director of forex trading at Barclays Bank.
"No doubt the jobs data will generate a host of opinions, but the market is
likely waiting for a surprise -- whether it be on the upside or downside -- as
the next catalyst," said Ogawa.
In a Reuters poll, economists forecast that companies shed 75,000 workers in
July in what would be the seventh straight month of job losses.
The dollar was little changed from late U.S. trade near 107.77 yen

after hitting a one-month peak of 108.34 yen earlier this week.
Japan Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda was overhauling his cabinet on Friday in a
bid to shore up his flagging popularity, domestic media reported. But analysts
said the reshuffle of top officials should not have much impact on the yen.
[ID:nT196476]
The euro fell 0.3 percent to $1.5559 ,>
$1.5522 hit earlier this week and well off a record peak of $1.6040 struck last
month. Against the yen, the euro fell 0.3 percent to 167.67 yen .>
Traders said the euro's weakness against the yen, with selling emerging in Asia
following the recent string of weak European data, was weighing on the single
European currency.
"The euro appears to be peaking out. The ECB hiked rates in July and inflation
still remains a threat, but indicators this week did not show euro zone economic
conditions in a positive light," said Takahide Nagasaki, chief forex strategist
at Daiwa Securities SMBC.
Data this week showed euro zone economic sentiment hit its lowest in over five
years in July, pointing to a stagnant economy and boosting expectations that
interest rates will be kept on hold this year with inflation still at a record
high. [ID:nL9244016]
Beyond the jobs data, market players were also keeping a close eye on oil
prices. The greenback recovered from its lows on Thursday as crude oil prices
in nearly four years in July.

RATE CUT SPECULATION HITS AUSSIE
Speculation over near-term interest rate cuts plagued the Australian dollar on
Friday.
Columnist Terry McCrann said the Reserve Bank of Australia would use its
post-meeting statement on Tuesday to set out the case for lower interest rates,
following two hikes earlier in the year that lifted the cash rate to a 12-year
peak of 7.25 percent. [ID:nSYD209018]
The Aussie dropped 0.6 percent to $0.9364 >
seven-week low of $0.9360. Traders said some hedge funds were bailing out of
long positions in the Aussie and kiwi.
The New Zealand dollar fell 0.7 percent to $0.7280, touching a 10-month low of
$0.7272.
The kiwi has taken a hit since the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut rates by a
quarter point to 8.00 percent last week and RBNZ Governor Alan Bollard signalled
this week that the central bank had "plenty of room" for cutting rates further.
(Editing by Michael Watson)