DAILY ANALYSIS FOR 17.10, 2012

Asian and European trading sessions: Euro: The euro strengthened to monthly highs in each of its pair amid rumors that Spain was prepared to file a formal request for financial assistance, thus, protecting the euro area of the further spread of the debt crisis. The news of confirming the long-term sovereign rating of Spain at «Baa3» by the international rating agency Moody's even more ensured investors for taking long positions on the single currency. Today’s positive was supported by the fact that the yield on 10 -year bonds in Spain fell by 29 basis points to a level of 5.51%, the lowest level since April 4, while the yield on 10- year Italian bonds reached the lowest level since March 19. The EUR / USD pair rocketed to a $ 1.3128 level, updating the monthly high. U.S. Dollar: The dollar fell against most major currencies, ahead of the publication of data from U.S. construction sector. Accordingly to forecasts of economists, the number of housing starts in September is likely to grow to 770 million versus 750 million in the previous month. The dynamics of the dollar index confirmed that the demand for safe assets weakened. The index decreased by 0.6% to 79.01. British Pound: The GBP / USD pair significantly grew to new highs of $ 1.6176 after published today reports which showed that the unemployment rate in August unexpectedly fell from 8.1% to 7.9 % and the number of applications for unemployment benefits in September decreased by 4K. Also, the average weekly earnings increased by 1.7% in y / y term and the Employment Change recorded increase by 212K due to the number of employees increased during the Olympic Games. Australian dollar: The Australian dollar substantially grew today and hit a two-week high against the dollar on continued growth of stock exchanges and increased demand for the risky assets all over the markets. American trading session: U.S. Dollar: On the positive results of Housing Starts and Building Permits reports published today the dollar weakened against all major currencies. In details, the number of new houses built in the United States increased by 15% to 872K in the last month, exceeding analysts' forecasts and a number of building permits rose in September jumped to a maximum of 4 years, 894 thousand. Gold: The Gold prices were generally following the currency markets, therefore had a positive dynamics, but investors were inactive due to announce of the pending decisions of EU summit, which starts on Thursday. The good news for gold was that the Gold Fields company, the South African gold producer announced the completion of an unauthorized strike at the mines in South Africa. Also, the gold’s ETF rose by 16,700 ounce on Tuesday confirming demand for an asset. The November futures of gold grew by $ 7.80 to $1752.90 per troy ounce on COMEX today. Oil: The Crude oil futures pulled back to previous day lows after the supply of crude oil rose in the U.S. to the highest level for this time of year. The Department of Energy reported that crude oil in the U.S. inventories rose by 2.86 million barrels to 369.23 million barrels. The WTI, the Light Sweet Crude Oil fell sharply to 91.55 dollars a barrel from touched today’s $92.85 levels.