Geopolitical tensions still running the markets

The FX markets are still locked in tight ranges, with geopolitical news the only major story keeping them there. World leaders start talks about how they will enforce ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, and also work towards ending the disturbing violence that has been seen in Gaza. More sanctions against Russia are the main play, but will this be enough to stop the violence?

The Aussie had the best move overnight, with comments from RBA’s Stevens saying he is ‘content right now’ with interest rates. He didn’t talk down the high AUD exchange rate, giving AUD/USD a brief lift up to 0.9394. The pair is still sitting under the strong resistance level at 0.9400. It may, however, make a move up today as fears are calming down from the risk off from geopolitical tensions.

The yen has started to give back some of the gains it made from the initial tension from the downed plane in Ukraine as it seems that Russia is now facing tougher sanctions. USD/JPY is trading around 101.50 and will be looking to get back above 102.00 in time if the current issues are resolved, now that world leaders are involved.

The US has the only worthwhile data today, starting with core CPI figures expected at 0.2%. This is a slight drop from the last time at 0.3%. This could help some of the risk pairs gain back to where they were last week, such as the euro and pound. Existing home sales data is due out as well from the US and is expected to come in at 4.98mn, an increase from last time at 4.89mn.

AUD/USD

Supports 0.0.9369 0.9361 0.9349 | Resistance 0.9394 0.9402 0.9415

USD/JPY

Supports 101.24 101.19 101.10 | Resistance 101.41 101.47 101.55

GBP/USD

Supports 1.7060 1.7049 1.7031 | Resistance 1.7095 1.7106 1.7123