Greenback at new lows (March 17, 2008, 4:23 PM)
EURUSD briefly rose above 1.59, as markets reeled from the news of the Bear Sterns collapse. USD was also sharply down against CHF and JPY. We do not see short term relief for the greenback, as technical and market momentum is compellingly against it

More KRW weakness to come (March 17, 2008, 3:58 PM)
In the short run, the KRW should weaken further. Carry trade unwinding is expected to push USDKRW towards 1060 with peaks levels at 1100. Korean investors borrowed strongly in yen and are now reducing JPY short exposure. The 1060 are our new short term 3-month forecasts, up from previous 965.

NOK, SEK: suffer from higher risk aversion (March 17, 2008, 12:08 PM)
The broad risk reduction in the markets was negative for the NOK and SEK. EURNOK reached 8.07 and EURSEK nearly 9.49. In the current risk adverse environment both currencies will remain under pressure, but to recover longer term. We continue to prefer the NOK over the SEK.

CHF: skyrocketed after emergency Fed action (March 17, 2008, 12:05 PM)
The emergency Fed action pushed EURCHF temporarily to a near 3-year low at 1.5330 and USDCHF temporarily to an all-time low at 0.9645. We already heard the first outspoken concern from the SNB chief economist Kohli about the CHF rise. EURCHF will continue to follow global stock market performance.

Turkey: TRY down on risk reduction, politicals (March 17, 2008, 12:03 PM)
A court request for closure of the ruling party, AKP, was filed over the weekend. The request takes tensions between the secular establishment and the ruling party to a new level, and may not be resolved immediately. TRY lost approximately 2.4% against USD, due also to pressure on EM currencies.