Tight ranges as markets consolidate recent losses!

• Yesterday's trading was uneventful; price traded in tight ranges and consolidated the past week's sell off. Most majors seem like they are forming a short term bottom as the negative sentiment reached extreme levels and no more bad news is able to spark further selling. The financial calendar yesterday was light with no major economic announcements as a cause for concern. St. Louis Fed President Bullard said yesterday that the Fed is in a position to start selling assets and to wind down its balance sheet. Fed President Bullard does not envision further expansion of the MBS purchases following March and does not forecast a double dip recession; in terms of job growth he is optimistic over the coming months. The markets have now turned their focus to Bernanke's Feb 10^th testimony waiting for more details on the Fed's exit strategies. USDJPY price action yesterday was between 89.55 - 89.15.

• In Europe again the main focus is turned to Greece's fiscal headache. The EU is due to hold a summit and Greek officials will most probably have a lot of comforting to do to their European counterparts. An IMF bailout continues to be the best solution for the crisis however politics will play a large role in accepting this. The Greek finance minister also said that any appeals for help outside help would be a terrible signal for the markets. In Spain the Spanish minister was reassuring the markets by saying that Spain will probably issue one third less debt than Greece in 2010 and you cannot compare Spain's situation to the Greek situation. Today the main focus turns to German CPI figures, price action for the EURUSD was between 1.3713 - 1.3621.

• In Canada yesterday we had the housing starts data which came in just below expectations. The report showed that 186.3K new units for January. BoC Deputy Governor Duguay said that a strong Canadian Dollar remains a significant risk to the economy. USDCAD price action was between 1.0542 - 1.0780.

• Today the market turns its focus to German CPI figures, German Trade balance, UK trade balance and US wholesale inventories. 

Currency to watch out for: EURUSD & USDCAD

• § The EURUSD pivot point is at 1.3640 with a preference to enter into long positions at 1.3650
• § The USDCAD pivot point is at 1.0750 with a preference to enter short positions at 1.0750

Today's calendar and market movers:

• § Germany Consumer Price Index for January expected at -0.6%
• § Germany Trade balance for December expected to gain by Eur15 bln
• § United Kingdom Trade balance for December expected to drop by 6.63 bln
• § US Wholesale inventories for December expected to gain by 0.5%

Equity Markets:

• US equities closed negative yesterday day with the DJIA and the SP500 closing -1.04% and -0.01% respectively.  The European burses were positive yesterday with the FTSE up 0.6% the DAX and the CAC closing positive at 0.93% and 1.22% respectively.  The NIKEI and the HSI at the time of righting is -0.19% and 0.68% respectively.