Sunday Session Starts Slowly

Overall, the currency market moved very slowly during the Asian session. The only exception was the aussie, which already plunged 60 pips from news items over the weekend. Ahead, the release calendar is very light on Monday, which may further allow the majors to advance against the greenback, if the green-shots theory continues to stay present in the overall market's sentiment.

The Euro (Eur/Usd) is trading near the highest value touched in the last six weeks of trading. The euro appreciated over the last period as investors considered the pace of contraction in the global economy had stalled, something that made the dollar less appealing. Later this week, a release is expected to show that the Euro-area economy contracted 2.1% in the first quarter.

The Pound (Gbp/Usd) started the Sunday session near Friday's high, and at the same time near the highest value touched over the last few months of trading. In the first stages of the credit crisis, the pound was sold off very strongly; reflecting the poor state of the U.K. economy, but now the pair's outlook is starting to look better than expected.

The Aussie (Aud/Usd) declined strongly tonight, even though the rest of the majors moved very little until now. The pair fell 60 pips, declining for the first time in the last 10 day of trading. Currently, the pair is trading above all of the important moving averages.

The Cad (Usd/Cad) opened the Sunday session just above the 1.1500 area, where the pair bottomed in November 2008. If the cad finds the strength to break any lower, the road is clear for the pair to move towards the 1.0700 area. Crude oil is currently trading at the highest value in the last six months, something that should drive the cad lower.

The Swissy (Usd/Chf) moved very little tonight, during the Sunday session. The swissy is currently trading near the lowest value touched since January, after it plunged more than 550 pips over the last three weeks of trading. However, the swissy's downtrend may be ending, since last week the Chairman of the SNB expressed again its disapproval about the Swiss franc's strength.

The Yen (Usd/Yen) started the Sunday session once again above the swing area formed by the 20, 50 and 200-day moving averages. The pair headed lower tonight, extending the downtrend experienced during the Friday's U.S. session, when the yen declined 110 pips.

Asian Markets Post Small Declines

Current Futures: Dow -48.00, S&P -6.10, NASDAQ -11.25

Asian markets trade barely below the breakeven line, erasing the gains posted during the opening bell. At the same time, U.S. futures also declined.

The Asian financial markets turned bearish after Toyota said its losses would widen to $5.50 billion this year, on weaker domestic and external demand. Toyota's outlook is twice as bad as the initial estimates, but is inline with the overall industry reports. However, the market withstood the declines seen in the car industry from being helped by the raw material producers and the financial sector. Commodity stocks gained a lot of ground over the last few days of trading, as crude oil reached the highest value since November 2008.

For now, the Asian markets are sitting at the highest value in the last seven months, helped by the strong gains seen in March and April. In these two months, the major indexes from the region gained almost 40%, as positive economic news feed the investors' hope that the economy is reviving. Moreover, TheLFB-Forex.com Trade Team notes that the Chinese economy has experienced only limited affects from the credit crisis until now, which further strengthened the equity rally in the area. “China is one of the biggest economies in the region, and has the strength to influence the demand side from its neighbor countries, like Japan and South Korea or Taiwan,” they added. “The additional demand coming from China helped some companies water the credit crisis with more ease, since China is responsible for large bulk of orders in the region.”

Overnight, the Japanese Nikkei declined 9.63 points (0.10%) to 9,423.20. The Australian S&P/Asx slipped 15.90 points (0.40%) to 3,925.80.

Crude oil for May delivery was recently trading at $58.40 per barrel, down by $0.20.

Gold for May delivery was recently trading higher by $0.80 to $915.65.

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