Previous session overview

The U.S. dollar gained versus the euro on Thursday after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Greece's additional austerity measures were "convincing," while warning Athens that turning to the International Monetary Fund for aid wouldn't be appropriate.

The U.S. data contrasted with continued investor worry on Thursday whether Greece could get its fiscal house in order after announcing on Wednesday additional belt-tightening measures, which Trichet called credible.

The dollar index (DXY), which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, traded at 80.379, up from 79.956 in late North American trading on Wednesday.

The euro changed hands at USD1.3551, down from USD1.3708 late Wednesday.

Both the ECB and the Bank of England left key lending rates unchanged at record lows in the face of an uncertain economic recovery.

The British pound fell to USD1.5047, resuming an earlier decline and from USD1.5101 late Wednesday, when it jumped more than 1%.

The dollar rose against the Japanese currency, to buy JPY89.01 from JPY88.47 late Wednesday.

Traders also waded through U.S. data on jobless claims and productivity though could be reluctant to place big bets ahead of Friday's crucial U.S. jobs data for February, wrote analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman.

Market expectation

Though analysts said Trichet offered nothing new on Greece, an earlier announcement from the Greek government that its a 10-year bond was oversubscribed by investors could be undergirding the euro from steeper losses.

Euro crunches down to USD1.3560 area now as traders react to a headline of a ratings downgrade of a large German bank, the action apparently just an excuse to gun for earlier noted stops sub USD1.3580. Lows are being minted around USD1.3560.

EURGBP traded to stg0.90205 before meeting demand interest, with earlier reports noting support in place between stg0.9020/15. Rate currently trades back around stg0.9028. A break of stg0.9015 may allow for a move back toward stg 0.9000.

Disclaimer: the data made available by Dukascopy (Suisse) SAis for informational purposes only. Publication of this data by Dukascopy (Suisse) SA does not constitute provision of investment advice and Dukascopy (Suisse) SA assumes no responsibility with regard toany information, forecast or recommendation herein contained and assumes no responsibility with regard toany losses resulting from any activities conducted the basis of this data, including any investment decisions.

Comments

Add New Search

Write comment
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Website:
Title:
Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.26

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."