Forex by Lucky Room » Europe

Swiss Franc stregthened against EUR and USD

Shay Greenberg — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:31:56 +0000

Fall noted the euro and the dollar against the Swiss franc in the forex market as the developments in Italy have rekindled concerns about the debt crisis in the eurozone. The single European currency earlier fell 1% to the 1.1705 francs, while the dollar was at 0.8108 francs retreating from a high of 0.8239 francs to which climbed Monday. In Italy, yesterday’s bond auction did not attract much interest. Pressures in the euro were also indications on the withdrawal of Italian government from its financial targets. At 12:49 (GMT), the euro / dollar stood at $ 1.4438 while the dollar / yen stood at 76.56 yen.

“Smiles” in Europe from the auction of Italy

Shay Greenberg — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:01:25 +0000

The significant drop in borrowing costs in Italy gives boost to Euro markets and back into positive territory and profits of more than 1%. Positive reaction to this morning’s decision of the Fed, and now felt the volatility. Specifically, the Fed officials pledged to keep interest rates at extremely low current levels “until at least mid-2013,” indicating that operators will continue to support efforts to stimulate the ailing U.S. economy. “This was a clear message for buyers to return to the forex market,” says the IG Markets. He adds that investment portfolios are “wounded” by the events of the past two weeks, but many hope the Fed drew a line down the fall and attention can now turn to the reconstruction of global economic growth. In Italy Treasury raised 6.5 billion through Treasury Bill Auction 12 months, with significantly reduced performance 2.959% from 3.670%. The supply of Treasury bills were covered by 1.94 times. On the dashboard, the estimator of the state of the stock markets of member countries of the Eurozone, the Euro Stoxx 50 recorded losses of 1.25%. In London the FTSE 100 recorded an increase of 1.64% . The German DAX is reinforced at a rate of 2.64%, while in Paris the CAC-40 moved to 1.20%. Gains 0.92% notes IBEX in Spain, at a rate of 0.15% supported by the Italian MIB, while in Portugal, the PSI record 3.38% rise. The Swiss SMI strengthened 0.97%. Positive signs show the indicators in Russia, the RTS at 0.53% and 0.16% in Micex. In Turkey, the ISE index supported at a rate of 0.73%. In the currency market, the central bank of Switzerland SNB said it would take measures to stop the excessive rise of the franc, providing greater liquidity, and will bring forth the FX swaps to first time since autumn 2008. As a result, the franc is moving downwards against major currencies. The macro of the day, industrial production in France, the second biggest eurozone economy, fell more than economists expected in June, due to lower production of transport equipment and electronics goods. The production fell 1.6% compared with May, when it had risen by 1.9% (revised measure), according to national statistics office Insee. Economists had predicted a fall of 0.7%. Compared with last year, production increased 2.3%.

Juncker: Early July the specific terms for the participation of individuals

Shay Greenberg — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:43:31 +0000

The leaders of the Eurozone will shape the final terms of the program of “voluntary” participation of bondholders for the new rescue package for Greece in July, said the head of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker after a meeting of finance ministers of the euro at Luxembourg. “In early July we will consider private sector participation, but should be voluntary,” said Juncker, as the broadcast Dow Jones Newswires. He added that the size of the financial participation of private creditors has not yet cleared out. This is another support statement towards Euro which on the forex market it is trading at 1.4200 against the USD.

Turbulence in the European markets because of Greece

Shay Greenberg — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:34:24 +0000

The turbulence created in the Eurozone by the Greek crisis and the failed efforts of “common sense” from the Europeans and the Greek officers, creates a climate of intense nervousness in European stock markets Thursday. The risks increase as the Greek position becomes increasingly difficult and it seems that in the coming weeks might be a dramatic end to another chapter of the continuing debt crisis of Europe, says Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank. “We believe that the sentence reflects the facts before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, where, although the markets were very nervous, in fact we all waited for a buyer last minute. It is likely that most parties involved know the impact after the Lehman, but now are more people who agree to be compared to the last days of Lehman », added Reid. On board, the assessor of the state of stock markets in member countries of the Eurozone, the Euro Stoxx 50 lost 0.92% record. In London the FTSE 100 is by falling 1.51% – additionally the Euro is recording losses against all the major international currencies in the forex market. The German DAX declining at a rate of 0.95%, while in Paris the CAC-40 moved to -1.28%. Losses of 0.82% notes IBEX in Spain, 0.98% decline in the Italian MIB, while the
Portugal, the PSI record drop 1.15%. The Swiss SMI yields 1.21%. Negative signs have indices in Russia, the RTS to -2.21% and -1.38% in Micex. In Turkey ISE index declining at a rate of 1.61%.

The daily macros showed that the number of employees in the euro area changed little in the first quarter of 2011 as employment growth in Germany and France, offset by a decline in other countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy. The European Statistical Office announced today that the number of employees amounted to 146.5 million people in the Eurozone. The last quarter of 2010 the number of employees was at 144.8 million people.

Reservations from Berlin to the proposal for a European finance ministry

Shay Greenberg — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:46:17 +0000

The German government appears cautious in the proposed ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet to establish a European finance ministry with wider responsibilities. The issue is not present,” said government spokesman Stephen Zaimpert, noting that existing problems should be solved with existing resources and capabilities. He added that he and Mr. Trichet spoke of “thoughts for the day after tomorrow.” Speaking yesterday at a ceremony in Aachen, Jean-Claude Trichet suggested the establishment of a European finance ministry with the right intervention and veto on fiscal policy member states.

Euro is negotiating above $1.38 as investors await the ECB announcements

Shay Greenberg — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:27:06 +0000

Euro starts the week above the $1.38 level posting significant gains against the dollar and the yen, while moving gently upwards against the franc and stabilizing against the British pound.

“The euro / dollar rate started the week ready to test the level of 1.3862 which is February high and to extend its profits to the level of 1.3960 to 1.4000, which is the 78.6% retracement of the November correction and is also the level of the 200 days moving average. Our estimations are that the rate will move towards the level of 1.3950 to 1.4000″, says Mrs. Karen Jones of the Commerzbank.

The euro is trading at $1.3828 against the U.S. currency with profits of 0.55% while is negotiating at 113.049 against the yen with gains of 0.68%. Compared to the Swiss franc, the Euro is strengthened by 0.34% to 1.2808 francs while compared with the British pound it is trading at 0.8538 with an increase of 0.08%.

“The market is currently ignoring the news about the problems of European debt and instead focuses on the situation in the Middle East and to the expectations of rising rates in Europe which keep the common currency in mild upward trend”, said analysts at Mizuho.

However forex market analysts estimate that during the rest of the day worldwide, the euro and other risk-sensitive currencies like the Australian dollar “are expected to receive sell-off pressures against the yen” if the shares in Europe and New York move downwards.

Profit for Sterling as investors await the announcement on inflation

Shay Greenberg — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 10:37:09 +0000

The British pound is currently over 1.6100 as investors await the inflation report from the Bank of England. In a similar tempo found both the dollar against the yen and the euro against the dollar which were strengthened during the Asian forex trade as the USDJPY accepted a new momentum to eight weeks high while the EURUSD rate pushed to 1.3537.

Sterling records gains after the announcement of inflation data which confirmed that inflation is increasing in the area and fired once again the expectations that BoE might raise the interest rates sooner than the estimations in order to tackle the rising inflation. Against a basket of currencies, the sterling made a rally of five and a half months high, prompting the governor of the BOE Mr. King to confirm that the continued inflationary pressures will cause a rise in interest rates earlier than expected. The market focuses on today’s inflation report which is scheduled for 10:30 GMT.

The EURUSD rate is still above the 1.3400 level; however, it showed accumulation in the last meeting. It is unclear to define that time the movement of the market as upward movement to 1.3600 or downward corrections are both possible. Once again, any downward break of 1.3400 may cause the downward trend to continue while a possible break of the resistance level of 1.3600 will set a new target to 1.3740.

Currently the EURUSD is negotiating at 1.3545 with high of the day the 1.3569 and low the 1.3482. The EURGBP is at 0.8398 and the EURCHF is at 1.3033. Against the yen the EURJPY rate is trading at 113.27.

The USDJPY pair is negotiating at 83.60 while the USDCHF is at 0.9622. The USDCAD is at 0.9864 and the AUDUSD at 0.9993.

Finally, the GBPUSD is at 1.6131, the GBPCHF is trading at 1.5519 while the GBPJPY is at 134.86.

Barclays: Increased profitability for 2010 – at 4% the inflation in GB

Shay Greenberg — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:21:00 +0000

Profits of 6.07 billion British pounds, slightly higher than analysts’ forecasts showed Barclays in 2010, compared to profits of 4.59 billion pounds which was recorded in 2009.

According to data released today by the British banking group, the provision for high risk debts decreased by 30% last year to 5.67 billion pounds. At Barclays Capital, the profits almost doubled to 4.78 billion dollars, while revenue reached 13.6 billion dollars. The group’s total revenue amounted to 31.44 billion dollars.

“I’m proud of what we achieved in 2010, especially as we managed to increase our profitability and strengthen our position both on capital and liquidity”, said Barclays chief executive Mr. Bob Diamond.

At the same time, the inflation for January – on annual basis – reached at 4% which is doubled for the goal that was set by the BoE of 2%. According to economists the increased inflation was mainly attributable to higher oil prices and rising taxation. This development is intensifying the pressure on the central bank of England to raise interest rates despite the fragile economic recovery.

Forex: New Romanian agreement with the IMF, the World Bank and the European Commission

Shay Greenberg — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:55:27 +0000

The assertion that the new (loan) agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and the European Commission makes no reference to a specific number of layoffs in the public sector gave the Prime Minister of Romania, Emil Boc.

As he said in 2010 it was implemented a significant part of the reform process, as this was imagined by the previous (loan) agreement with the IMF, the World Bank and the European Commission, totaling 20 billion euros.

The Romanian prime minister said that during the 2011 “we will continue the effort to achieve the objectives set out in the agreement.”

In 2010, after the layoffs in the public sector, the number of total employees in the public stood at 1.27 million people. The Romanian government targets – based on the agreement – to “restrain” the number of public officials around 1.29 million people.

The new agreement of Romania with the IMF, the World Bank and the European Commission allows the country to raise funds amounting to five billion euros, if the need arises.

Under the new agreement, the government of Bucharest is called to continue reforms aimed at improving the fiscal and business environment, public administration, pension system and the management of public resources.

Also, the Romanian prime minister said during a press conference, that the government is preparing a plan for simplifying the tax system for taxpayers who belong in a small-scale income.

Moreover, under the new agreement, the government will focus on energy companies as it is engaging in the sale of minority packages to companies such as Petrom, the Transgaz and Transelectrica.

Investors bet on the possibility of a final solution to the debt crisis of the EU

Shay Greenberg — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:05:06 +0000

The single currency continues to pick up in the wake of backstage discussions for a loan of € 50 billion in Greece from EFSF and the reasons is the repurchase of bonds with high interest rates. These discussions make investors believe that European leaders will decide to bridge their differences and tackle the debt crisis as a whole. Indeed, reports indicate that the EU is close to an agreement on repurchase of debt through private placement. This means that other regional countries will receive the same treatment with Greece. Thus the regional exchanges followed an upward motion, noting substantial profits.

Yet the S&P rating agency confirmed its credit rating for Spain, but with a negative perspective, arguing that the measures taken are in the right direction and will not affect the country’s ability to finance the purchases.

The announcement of unemployment in Germany has shown that it is the lowest since 1990, yet another factor which shows that Germany has benefited greatly from the crisis. But the most amazing finding is that, according to analysts, a slowdown in German industry can be visible because of labor shortage.

In England at the highest level ever found the manufacturing PMI index, which was announced at 62.0 points versus 58.0 points for the estimates. The pair GBP / USD traded at 1.6120 and the exchange and the pair EUR / GBP at 0.8530.

In America the entire burden has fallen out to the necessary reforms, and particularly in the health sector, aiming to reduce state expenditure and contribute to efforts to reduce the huge deficits. The end of corporate communication effects are of particular importance as it may affect the course of the exchanges. Another element that shows that America is on track is the fact that the larger companies that reported results were better than estimates.

The euro traded at 1.3730 against the dollar, continuing a rise that started at the beginning of the New Year. The franc falls as disappointing data on retail sales showed that private consumption is missing and cannot create conditions for self-supply in the economy. The pair EUR / CHF traded at 1.2935 while at 0.9415 traded the USD / CHF pair.

In an upward direction continues to move the exchange rate of AUD / USD which was trading at 1.0070 while the Canadian dollar also was moving upwards the exchange rate USD / CAD at 0.9970. Small correction in oil $ 91.40, while gold traded at $ 1337.