Don't call it a comeback - Having been........>

FOREX: Don't call it a comeback

- Having been browbeaten for multiple sessions, NZD and AUD were the best

performers Thursday, rallying alongside primarily commodities, which received a

number of tailwinds from the US. Firstly, the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve

pre-announced intentions to load up on as many as 30mln barrels of crude oil to

fully replenish the supplies to a total of 77mln barrels and take advantage of

low prices. This came ahead of reports that the US could wade into the Saudi

Arabia - Russia spat in an attempt to lean on the parties to agree to output

cuts and help oil prices recover. WTI crude futures traded higher by as much as

23% in response.

- Interestingly, GBP rallied on the back of a further emergency rate cut from

the Bank of England, who trimmed rates another 15bps to the lower bound of 0.1%

and added another Gbp200bln in government bond-targeted QE. It may be the case

that GBP strengthened in response as traders see the MPC with few bullets left

to fire.

- US existing home sales and an ECB's Rehn speech cross Friday.