In the much-anticipated event of the day, the European Central Bank conducted second round of its three-year refinancing operation. Today’s LTRO was well received, with banks borrowing EUR529 billion. The higher amount of loans in the second round meant that bank participation exceeded December’s facility by about EUR 50 billion. While this was comparable to [...]

Markets were fairly quiet on Tuesday, with currencies settling down after large moves on Monday. Most of the action, such as it was, came on Durable Goods Orders and US Consumer Confidence announcements, which did not last long. By all accounts, markets are waiting for results of the second Long Term Refinancing Operation, to be [...]

In an otherwise dull, or rather directionless, trading on Monday, Yen pairs stood out. They all registered sharp declines, falling 200+ pips in some instances. Many sources claimed that was in search of a safe haven, or even a hedge against rising oil prices. Hard to see how the JPY can possibly be a hedge [...]