Neil Mellor Quotations

We are hearing more and more about China, and that is all that is ever needed to take the dollar lower.

We've seen better economic data out of the U.K. and that has helped the pound.

Given that rising US interest rates underpinned the greenback's stellar performance in 2005, dollar bulls' disappointment in the wake of these minutes is inevitable.

Fukui's comments today struck a bit of a chord with the market and it kicked off a huge yen move.

It is clear that the market's focus has been drawn to today's CPI report for January.

Koizumi is seen as a reformer, and that's a good thing for the country and good for the yen, ... The big rise in the Nikkei will help the yen. We've seen substantial inflows into Japan.

Such has been the rise in interest in Japan of late that the market's apparent refusal to brood over potential terrorist attacks is perhaps wholly unsurprising. Foreign investors have positively reassessed Japan's economic and political outlook and have laid their bets accordingly.

There's a gradual feeling that the ECB is closer to raising rates than first thought,

The story still is Japanese monetary policy and unwinding of yen carry trade. We have to look from the yen aspect and move away from a dollar-centric view.

The slowdown in the housing market has become dinner-table conversation and it may bring back talk of a second rate cut as the downward momentum saps consumer confidence. We are on the bearish side for the pound.

The move didn't happen until Wednesday and this was only my third game in 12 months, so I didn't expect to be thrown in like that but I couldn't have wished for a better start.

As always, markets will be looking to the statement. Each word holds implications for the markets, and each change will have implications for the dollar.

The mixed and contrasting data means it will take a bit of pondering over the next few days. It's perfect ingredients for range-trading.

Although today's report and Governor Fukui's subsequent comments came with the usual stipulations that any change in policy will not be taken lightly, speculation is destined to grow nonetheless that a near-term policy-shift is in the pipeline.

A lot of the expectations are already priced in the market.

The Bank of England is walking on a tight rope as the data this week has been quite weak, pointing to downside risks in the economy. We see sterling coming down from their lift last week, going lower against the euro from here.

Clearly, US monetary policy remains a key influence on the path of the dollar and its fellow majors.