Euro Spikes Against Majors [EUR/GBP]
4/7/2008 8:27:22 PM The European single currency spiked against its major counterparts at about 8:10 pm ET. As of now, the euro is worth 1.5782 versus the greenback, 0.7930 against the pound, 1.5977 against the loonie, 161.36 against the yen and 1.7034 versus the Aussie.
Pound Surges To New Multi-day Highs Against Euro And Franc [EUR/GBP]
4/3/2008 6:47:48 AM During early European deals on Thursday, the British currency strengthened to new multi-day highs against its European and Swiss counterparts. But the pound weakened against the yen and the dollar during this time. Against the yen, the pound eased from a 20-day high.
A report from the HM treasury revealed that UK government net reserves increased US$45 million to US$27.1 billion in March. Bank of England net holdings of foreign currency and gold fell US$3 million in March, bringing the end-March total to US$5 million compared with US$8 million at February end.
A survey by the Bank Of England showed that lenders expected a slightly larger reduction in secured credit availability over the next tree months.
Yesterday, the BoE`s executive director and member of the Monetary Policy Committee Paul Tucker said that the consumer price inflation might remain above central bank`s 2% target in the near term.
Tucker said, “Usually, the MPC would respond by cutting Bank Rate sufficiently to offset more or less entirely what we judged, over time, to be the impact of the tighter financial conditions on the path of spending, so as to ensure that aggregate demand remained broadly in line with the economy`s productive capacity.” “But conditions do not favor such a “business as usual” approach to demand management.”
The pound that fell to a 3-day low of 0.7912 against the euro by about 4:35 am ET reversed direction thereafter and hit a 1-week high of 0.7846 by about 6:30 am ET. The pair closed yesterday`s deals at 0.7895. The pound has been climbing against the euro since March 31, when it reached a record high low of 0.7984. Since then, the pound has gained around 1.65% against its European counterpart.
The British pound advanced to a 20-day high of 204.62 against the Japanese yen, before reversing direction by about 2:25 am ET. The pair fell to 202.95 by about 4:35 am ET. Currently, the pound is trading 203.77 against the yen and the pair closed yesterday`s deals at 203.47.
After a brief upward trend during early deals on Thursday, the UK`s sterling started ticking down against the franc by about 2:05 am ET. The pound fell to 2.0040 from 2.0170 against its Swiss counterpart within about two and half hours. Thereafter, the pound reversed its direction and hit an 8-day high of 2.0196 by about 6:30 am ET. The pound-franc pair closed yesterday`s trading at 2.0055.
The British currency showed weakness against the US dollar during Asian trading on Thursday. The pair added to its losses during early European session and hit as low as 1.9762 by about 4:35 am ET. The pound closed yesterday`s deals at 1.9877 against the dollar. The pound currently buys 1.9826 dollars.
Euro Sets 1-week Low Against British Pound [EUR/GBP]
4/3/2008 6:24:34 AM Thursday morning, the European currency showed weakness against its major counterparts. The euro declined to 1-week low versus the sterling.
The single currency gave back its Asian session gains versus the franc and the yen. The euro thus fell from a 4-day high against the yen.
Euro zone retail sales volume dropped 0.5% month-on-month in February, the Eurostat indicated Thursday. This compares to a 0.5% growth in January. Economists had expected a monthly increase of 0.2%.
Against the British pound, the single currency showed weakness in Asian deals today. However, by about 2.00 am Eastern Time, the euro-pound pair attempted to reverse its direction but was down again shortly. At about 5.55 am ET, the pair hit 1-week low of 0.7852 compared to yesterday`s close of 0.7895.
UK government net reserves increased US$45 million to US$27.1 billion in March, the HM Treasury revealed Thursday. The net reserves increased from US$27.05 billion recorded in February.
The PMI`s headline figure dropped to 52.1 in March from February`s 54.0. Analysts expect the reading to fall 53.0.
The Bank of England`s executive director and member of the Monetary Policy Committee Paul Tucker said yesterday that the consumer price inflation is very likely to rise to materially above the central bank`s 2% target in the near term.
Regarding the rise in inflation Tucker said, “The question is whether that unavoidable temporary rise will remain just that, temporary; or whether it will feed into medium-term expectations of inflation, and so get reflected in wages and prices going forward and, thus, in domestically-generated inflation.”
The European currency trended down against the US dollar in early deals today. The euro-dollar pair reached 1.5570 at about 5.30 am Eastern Time, compared to 1.5687 late New York Wednesday.
In a testimony before the joint Congressional committee yesterday, the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke publicly admitted for the first time that a recession in the United States is possible. He said the growth outlook was weaker now than it was when the Fed released its last set of forecasts in January. The Fed expects growth to strengthen in the second half of the year as fiscal and monetary stimulus kicks in, he said. But “the uncertainty attending this forecast is quite high and risks remain to the downside”.
The euro that closed yesterday`s deals at 1.5825 against the franc reached 1.5859 at about 2.40 am Eastern Time. Loosing ground thereafter, the pair is currently quoted at 1.5826, compared to yesterday`s North American session close of 1.5825.
Against the Japanese unit, the euro hit a 4-day high of 161.09 at about 2.40 am Eastern Time. Reversing direction thereafter, the euro-yen pair is now worth 159.98, compared to Wednesday`s close of 160.58.
The Bank of Japan announced today that for the week ended March 29, foreign residents were net sellers of 103.1 billion yen worth of Japanese stocks. During the same period, foreigners were net sellers of 286.2 billion yen in Japanese bonds and notes. Meanwhile, Japanese residents were net buyers of 168.2 billion yen in foreign equities and net sellers of foreign bonds and notes to the tune of 834.1 billion yen.
The US ISM non-manufacturing data for March has been scheduled for release at 10:00 am ET. At the same time, the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak before the Senate Finance Committee on the Bear Stearns sale. He will be joined by N.Y. Fed President Tim Geithner, SEC Commissioner Chris Cox and the CEOs of Bear and JPMorgan Chase. Bernanke is largely expected to repeat the testimony delivered yesterday before the Joint Economic Committee.
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