Forex Trading News
Dollar, Euro, Pound & Yen

01:08 Friday 18 June, 2010

Canada’s dollar was poised for a second straight weekly advance versus its U.S. counterpart as crude oil above $75 a barrel made commodity-linked currencies more attractive to investors.

“The stronger performance over the week is partly on the return of risk appetite and, more importantly, oil rallying again and remaining above $75 a barrel,” said Matthew Strauss, senior currency strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto.

01:01 Saturday 19 June, 2010

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he can’t rule out the collapse of the euro as the European Union struggles to contain the sovereign debt crisis.

Asked if the emergency could threaten the single currency, Medvedev said, “So far, no. But one cannot rule out this danger because at least a unique situation has emerged,” according to the text of an interview with the Wall Street Journal that was provided by the Russian government.

Russia will help lead the effort to recast the world economic hierarchy after the global financial crisis, Medvedev said today at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The government will use tax incentives and other free-market economic policies to attract investment, he said, as Russia seeks to diversify its economy away from natural resources.

“We really live at a unique time, and we should use it to build a modern, prosperous and strong Russia, a Russia that will be a co-founder of the new world economic order,” Medvedev told an audience that included Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit and French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde.

00:52 Saturday 19 June, 2010

Yuan forwards strengthened the most this year amid mounting calls for China to allow its currency to resume appreciation before leaders from the Group of 20 nations meet on June 26-27 in Toronto.

The U.S. Congress may push China to revalue the yuan if the nation doesn’t move on its own after the G-20 summit, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin said on June 16. China’s one-year swap rate rose to the highest level since October 2008 on speculation the central bank will push up borrowing costs in money markets higher to cool the economy.

A more flexible currency would give China’s leaders more freedom to decide on monetary policy, the World Bank said in its quarterly report on the world’s fastest-growing major economy. A stronger yuan would also help reduce inflationary pressures by lowering the cost of imports and rebalance growth toward consumption, the Washington-based bank said.

“Obviously there’s pressure building up on China to be more flexible on the yuan,” said Gerrard Katz, head of foreign- exchange trading at Standard Chartered Plc in Hong Kong. “Now that the dollar’s under pressure again and equities are up, there’s going to be more hot money inflows into China.”

18:50 Friday 18 June, 2010

Europe’s “commitment” to the euro will help the currency survive a debt crisis that drove up borrowing costs and forced painful budget cuts in the 16-nation region, said Toyoo Gyohten, a former currency official in Japan.

Europe “bought time” with a rescue package for the trading bloc’s most-indebted members, Gyohten, 79, said yesterday. Political leadership and fiscal tightening will be necessary for Europe to regain the market’s trust, he said.

“Europeans’ commitment to their historical integration is stronger than any of us outside the bloc can imagine,” said Gyohten, who was a special adviser to former Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii. The trading bloc will “eventually overcome any difficulty.”

18:44 Friday 18 June, 2010

Gold may climb to a record $1,300 an ounce this year as investment demand shifts from the euro and the dollar, said Bruce Ikemizu at Standard Bank Plc.

The U.S. and European currencies may lose their appeal as developed economies underperform emerging markets such as China, said Ikemizu, the head of commodity trading and managing director at the bank’s Tokyo branch. As there is no immediate replacement for the dollar and euro, demand for gold will grow, he said in an interview yesterday.

Gold for immediate delivery traded at $1,243.80 an ounce today, near its record $1,252.11 on June 8, as the dollar weakened on signs the U.S. recovery was slowing and on concern the European sovereign-debt crisis will persist. “We have just entered Act II,” billionaire investor George Soros said June 10, as Europe’s fiscal woes worsen and governments are pressured to curb budget deficits that may push the economy into recession.

“The U.S. will never regain its dominance in the world economy” as growth is driven by emerging economies, said Ikemizu, who has spent 24 years trading gold since starting his career at Sumitomo Corp. “Gold is drawing attention” as it will take a long time for the dollar to be replaced by another currency in trade and investment, he added.

18:41 Friday 18 June, 2010

The pound may extend gains versus Japan’s currency to reach a one-month high of 137 yen, Ueda Harlow Ltd. said, citing trading patterns.

An ichimoku chart for the British currency shows bullish signals including a short-term conversion line crossing a longer-term baseline, said Toshiya Yamauchi, a senior analyst at the online currency-trading company in Tokyo.

“In the short term, the pound is gaining technically driven momentum to head higher,” Yamauchi said in an interview.

18:37 Friday 18 June, 2010

The euro headed for its biggest weekly advance against the dollar in a year as stock markets rose and concerns eased that Europe’s debt crisis will slow the region’s growth.

The 16-nation currency touched a three-week high versus the greenback as increased demand at a Spanish bond auction yesterday spurred optimism that nations in the region can raise sufficient funds to meet borrowing needs. The yen gained for a fifth day versus the dollar as the nation’s leaders pledged to reduce public debt.

“The market will likely try to hold on to what has been achieved in the euro this week,” said Steven Barrow, head of Group of 10 foreign-exchange research at Standard Bank Plc in London. “But I take no confidence in the idea that markets are ignoring the bad news out of the euro zone.”

08:03 Friday 18 June, 2010

BNP Paribas SA revised its third- quarter 2011 euro forecast against the dollar to 97 U.S. cents from $1.07.

“We are convinced that euro-dollar will have to remain weaker for longer,” currency strategists led by London-based Hans-Guenter Redeker, wrote in a research report today. “A weak euro will help Europe generate the required income to deal with the financial consequences of the crisis. Moreover, the ECB will have to keep interest rates low to deal with the deflationary consequences of closing the inner EMU competitive gap.”

08:01 Friday 18 June, 2010

The Canadian dollar may appreciate versus its U.S. counterpart even as the currency forms a so- called triple top, usually an indicator that it’s about to weaken, according to Bank of Montreal.

A triple top “usually sets up for a move the other way,” Blake Jespersen, director of foreign exchange at Bank of Montreal, said by phone from Toronto. In this case, that would mean a rising U.S. dollar. “If it can’t break through a key level, then the trend should reverse the other way,” he said.

The Canadian currency has strengthened to C$1.0225 three times in the last four trading sessions against the U.S. dollar and each time been rebuffed. The loonie, as the currency is known for the image of the aquatic bird on the one-dollar coin, weakened 0.6 percent to C$1.0305 at 11:10 a.m. in Toronto.

“I don’t think we’re going to see a big correction in the short term,” Jespersen said. “I think eventually we’re going to break through there, and maybe not test parity, but maybe take a run at C$1.01.”

07:58 Friday 18 June, 2010

Canada’s dollar weakened versus its U.S. counterpart for the first time in three days as raw materials such as crude oil and copper declined and as a report showed wholesale sales unexpectedly fell in April.

The currency declined against all 16 of its most-traded counterparts as it failed three times in four days to appreciate beyond C$1.0225, forming a so-called triple top pattern. Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said yesterday the uneven global recovery and prospects of renewed weakness in Europe mean future increases in its target interest rate aren’t “preordained.”

“You’re seeing the Canadian dollar soften a little bit today with commodities, oil in particular, slightly lower,” Blake Jespersen, director of foreign exchange at Bank of Montreal, said by phone from Toronto. “Overall we’re in consolidation mode for the next few days.”

07:54 Friday 18 June, 2010

The pound climbed against 13 of its 16 most-traded counterparts after U.K. retail sales increased more than economists predicted in May, boosting speculation that Britain’s economic recovery is gathering pace.

Sterling neared the highest level in a month versus the dollar as the Office for National Statistics said sales rose 0.6 percent on the month, beating the 0.1 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The currency recovered from a dip after Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said a slowdown in economic growth may curb inflation. Government bonds also advanced.

“The figure today was responsible for the move up,” said George Tchetvertakov, head of market research at Alpari Ltd., a U.K.-based online foreign-exchange provider. “Retail sales are way higher than expected and suggest things aren’t as bad as they looked.”

07:49 Friday 18 June, 2010

The euro strengthened above $1.24 for the first time in almost three weeks as increased demand at Spain’s bond auction eased concern about Europe’s debt crisis.

The common currency pared gains as stocks retreated after a report showed the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s factory index slumped in June. The dollar reached the lowest level versus the yen in three weeks as the number of Americans seeking jobless benefits last week unexpectedly rose. The Swiss franc strengthened against the euro after the nation’s central bank said deflationary risks have “largely disappeared.”

“The euro is benefitting most strongly against other currencies coming off the relief of the Spanish auction,” Brian Dolan, chief strategist at FOREX.com, a unit of online currency trading firm Gain Capital in Bedminster, New Jersey. “We’re still looking at a pretty anemic U.S. recovery. That partly highlights the potential for the risk rally to stall.”

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