Merkel Statements Strengthen the Euro

The euro managed to stay in positive territory against the dollar as concerns about the debt problems of Greece have decreased after the ten-year bond sale, and after the Merkel statements in Berlin. The U.S. currency recorded gains against the yen after the announcement of encouraging data on the employment sector. More specifically, the number of lost job positions recorded in February; were much less than expected by U.S. employers keeping the unemployment rate stable at 9.7%.

According to the Ministry of Labor, last month removed a total of 36,000 jobs in the U.S. compared to 50,000 predicted by analysts-and revised downward and the data in December and January. Some economists ‘bet’ that the better than expected unemployment data will encourage the Fed to move interest rate rise this year, ranging nearly zero. In the wake of the announcement of employment data, the dollar strengthened to 90.58 yen, the highest traced in almost a week. On the other hand, the potential for further easing of monetary policy by the Bank of Japan has put pressure on the yen [JPY = X] against most currencies. The euro was close to 120 yen, but remained close to 1.36 against the dollar. The Australian dollar recorded gains of 2.2% against the Japanese currency and was even bigger gains in the dollar in New Zealand.