FXstreet.com (Buenos Aires) –EUR/USD has traded between 1.2455 and 1.5144 level this year, with a general bullish tone since that 1.2455 low form past March 2009.

According to the ecPulse.com team if a Fibonacci retracement is apply to such rally, “we can see that the pair currently trades above 38.2% at 1.4125 and above the 50% at 1.3800; in role this indicates the possibility for an upside direction to prevail in 2010; RSI is trading in oversold areas and that increases the likelihood for the upside direction to return. The bullish 2010 outlook will remain valid as far as trading is above 1.3800 while 61.8% correction at 1.3490 provides further support for the trend.”

To the downside, the ecPulse.com team provides us with the following long term supports for 2010: 1.4125, 1.3800 and then 1.3490.

They finally state: “This analysis assures that the initial direction for the pair’s trading this year is expected to be to the downside, and then the general trend will be decided according to 1.3800 on whether the harmonic pattern will settle for this target or not.

• EUR/USD

EUR/USD (Jan 01 at 17:20 GMT)

1.4334/39 (-0.05%)

H 1.4334 L 1.4317

S3	S2	S1	R1	R2	R3
1.4260	1.4296	1.4332	1.4336	1.4372	1.4408

[?]Trend Index	[?]OB/OS Index
Slightly Bullish	Neutral
Data updated on Jan 01 at 17:18 (15-minute timeframe)

[ View EUR/USD technical studies ]

FXstreet.com (Córdoba) – The Euro is falling further against the Dollar. EUR/USD fell below 1.4400 after jobless claims report and currently trades below 1.4750 at 1.4340/45. The pair has lost previous gains and now trades near the levels it had at the beginning of the day. To the downside, support levels lie at 1.4320/30 and below at 1.4300 and 1.4270 (yesterday low).

Valeria Bednarik, collaborator at FXstreet.com affirms: “Tending lower in the hourly chart, pair lost upside momentum after U.S. data and has a slightly bearish perspective for this American session. Failure to hold above 1.4400 suggests more downside ahead of 1.4365, yesterday’s high area; 4 hours chars also show some downside pressure ahead as indicators seem exhausted, thus low volume likely to keep pair ranging rest of the day.”

• EUR/USD

EUR/USD (Jan 01 at 17:18 GMT)

1.4334/39 (-0.05%)

H 1.4334 L 1.4317

S3	S2	S1	R1	R2	R3
1.4260	1.4296	1.4332	1.4336	1.4372	1.4408

[?]Trend Index	[?]OB/OS Index
Slightly Bullish	Neutral
Data updated on Jan 01 at 17:18 (15-minute timeframe)

[ View EUR/USD technical studies ]

FXstreet.com (Buenos Aires) – After reaching an intraday high of 1.6230 against dollar, Pound retreated after better than expect U.S. data, approaching to 1.6160 support. According to Valeria Bednarik, pair is tending lower, as seen on 1 hour charts, with a first support at the 1.6160 area, ahead of 1.6110, where strongly bullish 20 SMA in the mentioned time frame chart, should halt the downside.

To the upside, and as long as above 1.6160, Bednarik sees resistances at 1.6200 area, followed by today’s high of 1.6230 and finally 1.6250, strong resistance zone formed by several daily highs and lows of the past two months.

• GBP/USD

GBP/USD (Jan 01 at 17:18 GMT)

1.6168/73 (0.02%)

H 1.6176 L 1.6147

S3	S2	S1	R1	R2	R3
1.6084	1.6125	1.6165	1.6171	1.6211	1.6252

[?]Trend Index	[?]OB/OS Index
Slightly Bullish	Neutral
Data updated on Jan 01 at 17:10 (15-minute timeframe)

[ View GBP/USD technical studies ]

DATA SNAP: US Jobless Claims -22K To 432K In Dec 26 Week

By Luca Di Leo and Sarah N. Lynch
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in the latest week to its lowest level in 18 months, a sign the labor market may have turned a corner.

Meantime, the Labor Department said in its weekly report Thursday that the number of people collecting jobless benefits for more than a week also continued to decline.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 432,000 in the week ended Dec. 26, the lowest level since July 19, 2008. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast claims would rise by 3,000.

The Labor Department revised the initial claims level for the week of Dec. 19 to 454,000 from an originally reported 452,000.

The tally of continuing claims, or those drawn by workers collecting benefits for more than one week, fell by 57,000 to 4,981,000 in the week ended Dec. 19.

The four-week average of new claims, which aims to smooth volatility in the data, dropped by 5,500 to 460,250 – marking its 17th consecutive drop. That was the lowest level since Sep. 20, 2008.

The unemployment rate for workers with unemployment insurance for the week ending Dec. 19 remained unchanged at 3.8%.

U.S. Federal Reserve officials earlier this month said the deterioration in the labor market was abating, but reaffirmed plans to keep interest rates near zero for several months due to still-high unemployment.

Recent data signal that the U.S. recovery from the worst recession in decades is taking hold. Orders for durable goods, or those intended to last more than three years, were up 0.2% in November as strength returned to the manufacturing sector.

Robust retail sales and improving consumer confidence, meanwhile, have raised expectations for strong economic growth in the fourth quarter. That’s prompted some optimism that employers may resume hiring early in the next year.

The U.S. unemployment rate declined unexpectedly to 10% in November as employers cut jobs at the slowest pace since the recession began at the end of 2007.

The Labor Department is set to release December unemployment and nonfarm payroll figures next Friday. Economists at Wrightson ICAP predicted in a note Wednesday that the jobless rate may have inched lower to 9.9% in December.

In Thursday’s report, Michigan reported the largest jump in new claims – 8,382 – during the Dec. 19 week due to an increase in layoffs in the automobile industry. Regional figures are not adjusted to reflect seasonal fluctuations.

Tennessee reported the largest decrease in initial claims – 2,972 – but did not provide a reason for the drop.

-By Luca Di Leo and Sarah N. Lynch, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6682; luca.dileo@dowjones

Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today’s most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=njpUEtGnIyyS%2BBEqvjib6A%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 31, 2009 08:45 ET (13:45 GMT)

Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Dow Jones

DATA SNAP: UK Nationwide House Prices Rise Again In December

By Nicholas Winning and Laurence Norman
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON (Dow Jones)–U.K. house prices rose for an eighth consecutive month in December, the Nationwide Building Society said Thursday, although it warned that prices may not increase much further in 2010.

The price of a typical home rose 0.4% on a seasonally-adjusted basis to GBP162,103 in December from a month earlier following an unrevised 0.5% increase in November.

The three-month on three-month rate of increase in home prices, which is seen as a smoother indicator of the near-term trend, rose 2.1% in December, compared with a 2.8% increase in November.

The monthly gain means the average U.K. house price has risen 5.9% from December 2008 and is 8.9% higher than the February 2009 trough. Prices remain 12.2% below their peak in October 2007. In November, prices were up 2.7% from a year earlier.

U.K. house prices have edged higher since the second quarter of 2009 due to a combination of pentup demand and a shortage of property for sale. Low interest rates and improved consumer confidence have also helped support the market.

Most property market experts began the year predicting further declines in house prices. But despite the recent price gains, the market has a long way to recover after being throttled by the global credit crisis and ensuing recession, and sales remain weak by historical standards.

Bank of England data released last month showed mortgage approvals totaled 57,345 in October, the highest level since March last year but still about one third less than in October 2007.

Looking to 2010, Nationwide said there are considerable uncertainties facing the domestic housing market, above all the challenges still facing the U.K. jobs market and doubts as to whether cash-rich buyers can continue to prop up demand.

Nationwide said it believes mortgage rates will remain “generally supportive” of housing-market conditions.

“Taking everything together, there is still a significant amount of fog clouding the outlook for house prices,” Nationwide said. “At this stage, it seems likely that 2010 will see no significant house price movements in either direction.”

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said last week that it expects house prices to finish 2010 just 1%-2% higher than at the end of this year due to the uncertain economic climate, little improvement in unemployment and caution by lenders.

In its report Thursday, Nationwide said Northern Ireland is the only region in the U.K. which didn’t see price gains in 2009. London saw the fastest gains, with the average price up some 7.0% in 2009 at GBP276,088.

Web site: www.nationwide.co.uk

-By Laurence Norman and Nicholas Winning, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 9498; nick.winning@dowjones.com

Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today’s most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=njpUEtGnIyyS%2BBEqvjib6A%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 31, 2009 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)

Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Dow Jones

Japanese manufacturing activity rose to 53.8 in December from 52.8 in November, the first up move in 3 months. December PMI new export orders rose to 54.7. This is the highest reading since July 2004. December PMI output rose to 57.7 from 54.4 in November.

Forex Live

* DATA SNAP: US Jobless Claims -22K To 432K In Dec 26 Week
* US Continuing Jobless Claims up to 4981K in Dec 19 week
* US Dec 26 Initial Jobless Claims down to 432K

Australian Private-Sector Credit +0.1% In November Vs October

SYDNEY (Dow Jones)–Credit to the Australian private sector rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in November from October and rose 0.8% from a year earlier, the Reserve Bank of Australia said Thursday.

Housing sector credit rose 0.7% in November from October and rose 8.1% from a year earlier, the RBA said in a statement.

Personal sector credit rose 0.3% in November and fell 1.9% from a year earlier. Business sector credit fell 1.0% in November and fell 8.2% from a year earlier.

-By Iain McDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4681; iain.mcdonald@dowjones.com

Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today’s most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=fJxvpuLXSFQCdmy3XA4JBw%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 30, 2009 19:36 ET (00:36 GMT)

Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Dow Jones

FXstreet.com (Buenos Aires) – USD/JPY reached a fresh weekly high at 92.77 and remains close to that level after U.S. data. Testing the 92.80 resistance zone, ahead of 93.10 intermediate resistance for next hours, ahead of the 93.40 area, past September high.

To the downside, pair has a strong support zone around 92.10, several daily highs and lows of the past two months, followed by 91.90, today’s low.

Japanese Yen crosses remain bullish with GBP/JPY reaching a fresh 6 weeks high above 150.00, at the 150.30 zone, and EUR/JPY reaching 133.40 area. Pair has been rising for 9 days in a row, from the 127.40 low printed past Dec 18th.

• EUR/JPY
• GBP/JPY
• USD/JPY

EUR/JPY (Dec 31 at 14:28 GMT)

133.34/41 (0.60%)

H 133.44 L 132.39

S3	S2	S1	R1	R2	R3
132.69	133.03	133.36	133.50	133.83	134.17

[?]Trend Index	[?]OB/OS Index
Slightly Bullish	Neutral
Data updated on Dec 31 at 14:23 (15-minute timeframe)

[ View EUR/JPY technical studies ]

FXstreet.com (Buenos Aires) – Better than expected weekly unemployment claims that claims fell 22K to 432K from a revised 454K past week, triggering a dollar spike across the board. EUR/USD fell to 1.4370 area as a first reaction, while dollar is slightly up against major rivals.

Daily low at 1.4335 has become next support for the pair, followed by the 1.4280 area, while resistance for next hours lie at 1.4410/20 area, past Mondays’ high, followed by 1.4440, European session high.

• EUR/USD

EUR/USD (Dec 31 at 14:27 GMT)

1.4387/90 (0.35%)

H 1.444 L 1.4322

S3	S2	S1	R1	R2	R3
1.4312	1.4348	1.4384	1.4401	1.4437	1.4473

[?]Trend Index	[?]OB/OS Index
Slightly Bearish	Neutral
Data updated on Dec 31 at 14:23 (15-minute timeframe)

[ View EUR/USD technical studies ]