23 Apr 2014
EMEA EM Express: Ukraine unrest continues, Russian debt auction fails
FXStreet (Łódź) - The situation in Ukraine continued to escalate on Tuesday as the authorities in Kiev decided to relaunch the “anti-terrorist” operation against pro-Russian separatists, following reports of two tortured bodies found dead near the town of Slaviansk, one of whom belonged to a member of the local party and a supporter of the current president Oleksandr Turchynov.
"The terrorists who basically have taken the entire Donetsk region hostage have crossed the line with torturing and killing Ukrainian patriots," the president said.
Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov announced more military exercises by the Russian fleet on the Caspian Sea, which will last a week and involve 10 naval ships manned by 400 soldiers. According to NATO officials there are around 40,000 Russian troops already stationed close to the Ukrainian borders.
In a response to the continuing unrest in Ukraine the Pentagon said on Tuesday that the US would boost its military presence in Eastern Europe at least until the end of the year, which prompted Russian comments that this could exacerbate the situation in the region. The US also signaled that more sanctions against Moscow would be considered.
Furthermore, Russia planned to hold the first debt auction in three weeks today, of up to RUB10 billion in bonds due August 2023 and May 2019, but finally had to call it off as it hadn't attracted sufficient bids at the minimum acceptable price.
Economic data
According to data released today by the Statistics South Africa Head Office, March South African inflation accelerated to 1.3% on a monthly basis, following a 1.1% reading in February and against expectations of remaining at the same level. Year-on-year CPI ticked up to 6% from 5.9%.
Tim Davis, Vice President and Global Strategist at TD Securities notes that “mildly favourable base effects have helped containing further inflation acceleration in April. Base effects, however, will turn adverse in May and June, after reverting to neutral in April.
“This will keep CPI above the SARB’s 6% upper-bound of the target range for several months, supporting speculation that the MPC may tighten rates soon.”
Technicals
The Russian ruble weakened against the greenback by 0.09% to 35.7285 on Wednesday.
On Tuesday the USD/RUB daily FXStreet Trend Index was slightly bearish, with the OB/OS Index neutral. RSI was at 49 at the last close, and has risen to 55 so far today. Daily 2-StDev Volatility Bandwidth was shrinking at 2808 pips, with ATR (14) shrinking at 3355 pips. The 1D 200 SMA was at 33.6489, while the 1D 20 EMA was at 35.7286.
"The terrorists who basically have taken the entire Donetsk region hostage have crossed the line with torturing and killing Ukrainian patriots," the president said.
Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov announced more military exercises by the Russian fleet on the Caspian Sea, which will last a week and involve 10 naval ships manned by 400 soldiers. According to NATO officials there are around 40,000 Russian troops already stationed close to the Ukrainian borders.
In a response to the continuing unrest in Ukraine the Pentagon said on Tuesday that the US would boost its military presence in Eastern Europe at least until the end of the year, which prompted Russian comments that this could exacerbate the situation in the region. The US also signaled that more sanctions against Moscow would be considered.
Furthermore, Russia planned to hold the first debt auction in three weeks today, of up to RUB10 billion in bonds due August 2023 and May 2019, but finally had to call it off as it hadn't attracted sufficient bids at the minimum acceptable price.
Economic data
According to data released today by the Statistics South Africa Head Office, March South African inflation accelerated to 1.3% on a monthly basis, following a 1.1% reading in February and against expectations of remaining at the same level. Year-on-year CPI ticked up to 6% from 5.9%.
Tim Davis, Vice President and Global Strategist at TD Securities notes that “mildly favourable base effects have helped containing further inflation acceleration in April. Base effects, however, will turn adverse in May and June, after reverting to neutral in April.
“This will keep CPI above the SARB’s 6% upper-bound of the target range for several months, supporting speculation that the MPC may tighten rates soon.”
Technicals
The Russian ruble weakened against the greenback by 0.09% to 35.7285 on Wednesday.
On Tuesday the USD/RUB daily FXStreet Trend Index was slightly bearish, with the OB/OS Index neutral. RSI was at 49 at the last close, and has risen to 55 so far today. Daily 2-StDev Volatility Bandwidth was shrinking at 2808 pips, with ATR (14) shrinking at 3355 pips. The 1D 200 SMA was at 33.6489, while the 1D 20 EMA was at 35.7286.