Posts Tagged ‘usd’

South Africa’s biggest private fixed-income money manager will stop lending money to six of the country’s largest state companies because it is concerned about how they are being run, government infighting and threats to the independence of the finance ministry.

Futuregrowth Asset Management, which has about 170 billion rand ($11.7 billion) in assets, shelved plans to lend more than 1.8 billion rand to three state companies on Tuesday (August 30), Chief Investment Officer Andrew Canter said from Cape Town on Wednesday (August 31), without giving more detail.

The fund manager will only resume offering loans and rolling over existing debt once it has determined that what it sees as proper oversight and governance at the companies have been restored.

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The yen strengthened beyond 100 per dollar for a second time this week as the U.S. currency’s bid to break out from a three-month low stalled after Federal Reserve minutes indicated officials were divided over the urgency to raise interest rates.

A gauge of the dollar has fallen more than 5 per cent this year as investors bet the Fed will raise interest rates at most once this year, compared with policy makers’ forecasts at the start of 2016 for four increases.

That means the U.S. central bank is less likely to diverge from the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank, which are boosting stimulus to spur flagging growth.

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Sterling was firmer on Wednesday (July 13), trading near a two-week high against the euro as Theresa May was set to take over as Britain’s prime minister, easing some of the political uncertainty that has dogged the currency in the past few weeks.

Traders will keep an eye on who will be appointed as finance minister with many awaiting for clarity on the new prime minister’s detailed thinking on triggering Article 50, the procedure for exiting the European Union.

May has said “Brexit means Brexit”, but added Britain will not rush to trigger the formal divorce proceedings. The uncertainty over whether Britain will be able to retain access to the single market after exiting the EU, along with expectations that the Bank of England could cut rates on Thursday (July 14), are likely to make traders wary of sterling.

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The pound tumbled to a new 31-year low on Wednesday (July 6), at one point dipping below $1.28, on fears over the effect of last month’s Brexit vote on Britain’s property market and the prospect of cuts in Bank of England interest rates.

The pound, one of the main vehicles through which financial markets can express concern about Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, fell as low as $1.2798 in Asian trading, its lowest since June 1985. It recovered to about $1.2891 in afternoon trading in London.

That still left it more than 13 per cent weaker than it was before the June 23 referendum, and about 1 per cent lower on the day.

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The Colombian peso weakened on Tuesday (31/5) after the country’s central bank announced it would suspend an intervention policy aimed at slowing the currency’s decline.

The central bank said on Friday (27/5) it would not hold any additional dollar option sales, but did not fully rule out further intervention.

The bank also increased its benchmark interest rate for a ninth consecutive month on Friday, to 7.25 per cent, confirming the expectations of most analysts in a Reuters poll.

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The dollar climbed to a two-month high against the euro as traders boosted wagers that U.S. interest rates will rise, starting as early as next month.

The greenback strengthened versus most of its major peers after Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker said on Monday, May 23 that he could see two to three rate increases this year, echoing remarks by the San Francisco Fed Bank’s John Williams.

Futures are indicating for the first time since March a better-than 50 percent chance that the Federal Open Market Committee will raise rates by its July meeting.

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Less than two months after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. softened its short-term euro forecast after a central-bank policy meeting, the bank is doing the same with the yen.

Japan’s currency is likely to strengthen until Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda rolls out or signals additional stimulus measures, analysts led by Robin Brooks, the bank’s chief currency strategist, wrote in a note to clients on Monday.

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In the latest round of online Forex trading news, most eyes are now focused on the federal government of the United States and the quantitative easing that the policymakers will take during the first months of 2014.

This is a direct result of the fact that Europe will remain comparatively quiet this month. So, traders will be looking to see if they can take advantage of what many feel will be a strengthening of the dollar in the weeks ahead.
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One of the aspects that has recently dominated the Forex markets is the continued slide of the United States dollar in relation to currencies such as the Euro and the Pound. While much of this bearish momentum has been triggered by the brinksmanship recently played out regarding the debt ceiling, recent data has been just as damaging.

The primary reason for a negative short-term outlook was prompted by the recent non-farm payroll report submitted that displayed dismal job growth figures within the United States. In turn, this has caused online Forex investors to take a rather cautious approach to the outlook for the greenback.
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In the latest forex news, the US dollar has slid considerably in comparison to other major currencies.

While earlier this month many forecasts were bullish regarding the dollar’s upward trend, analysts have now scaled off this position and are taking a more contemplative approach.

Indeed, the dollar may slide further as is possibly indicated by the relative strength index (RSI) which appears to be setting the stage for a downward trend in the weeks to come. This is especially relevant considering that the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium is on schedule for the following week.

Although the bearish stance for the dollar may continue temporarily, should chairman Bernanke not hint at another round of QE3, sentiments may begin to reverse.
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The week ahead looks to highlight concerns underpinning the European sovereign debt situation. The main story still is that of volatility on the European market; the single currency’s future viability questioned by many traders worldwide.

Spain is becoming more and more of a concern

The concerns with Spain’s ability to manage a flailing economy have grown since the IMF rescue package was approved. Spanish yields have tipped well over seven percent, trading at 7.39% after hitting a European-era high of 7.56%. Attempting to mitigate further volatility, Spain has banned short selling for three months while Italy, feeling the effects as well has banned short selling financials for one week. There are now fears that Spain may indeed seek a full bailout, as regional governments have begun to express concern for their ability to manage internal debts. Spanish and Italian bank shares were the worst hit followed closely by their domestic indices; the Ibex at one point dropping nearly five percent.

Greece’s debt reduction

Furthermore, creditors are expected to begin auditing Greece’s progress on debt reduction. This audit determines whether the country is to be approved for an additional 31.5 billion euros. With political and social unease, a quickly shrinking economy and many investors questioning whether Greece will meet its August deadline, there has been speculation of true insolvency should their financial situation worsen.

EUR/USD at two-year low

Because of these protracted jitters, the euro has fallen to a two-year low against the US dollar to trade at $1.2082. Furthermore, it has fallen to an eleven-year low to the Japanese yen. Below $1.20, many online Forex traders have taken a bearish stance.

Euros long term survival

On the other hand, some Forex traders have taken the attitude that any position would have to be long due to such market volatility. This, of course, is under the assumption that the euro will remain in its current form. Indeed, the lack of real movement in the precious metals markets, traditional safe havens, illustrates that many believe the markets may incur still more losses in the near term. Nonetheless, taking a long position in the euro may indeed be one of the few hedges against what remains as the most volatile era for decades.

The young businessman, probably somewhere in his 20′s, recently visited the Playground Club in Liverpool where he spent close to 320,000 dollars (203948,80 GBP) on liquor. He ordered a 30-liter (6,6 gallons) bottle of the world’s most expensive champagne, a double (more…)

The outlook for US Dollar have been going down, down and down against the Yen. Is it time for a turn-around soon?

New Economic Slowdown?

After the latest key U.S economic data was released, investors was first seriously concerned about the US economy showing, when July showed 27 % slowdown of previously owned U.S homes. But later, many forex investors insted became worried about the world economy instead and dollar started to rise again against many major currencies.

At the same time, Nikkei 225 rose to a 15-month low, while the Japanese currency become even stronger – 84 yen per USD. Yen is currently at its strongest value against USD this decade. Lets see how things move forward in the end of the week.

Sterling Pound against US Dollar is now in an up-trend after bottoming at 1.4425. How long will it continue? Let us look at the latest currency graph for GBP/USD.

Current intraday support levels are at 1.5589 and 1.5710, while weekly resistance levels are at 1.6460 and 1.70. It’s no secret that many analysts expect Sterling to rise against the dollar. If the US economy continue to show poor statistics, we believe GBP will rise sooner rather then later.

What do you think about the latest strength for GBP? Will it continue or break down?

After reaching 6 month high last week, pound sterling is now falling to it’s lowest lever in more than a week. Reason: Data signals Britain is not recovering as quick as expected.

Housing market slows down

The first decline in property prices appeared in July, showing a slower sales growth then previous months. Sterling fell to $1.5740 in London afternoon trading hours.

Analysts such as John Hydeskov, Danske Bank, believe Sterling is overbought and should have a correction. He suggest buying Norwegian krone instead..

The pound sterling has been declining during most of this year, but maybe we are about to see a turning point now?

As you can see in the GBP minute graph, the Pound Sterling have been increasing against US Dollar before Easter holidays starts.

In the longer forex charts for GBP/USD, it looks like the GBP (more…)

Many European Investors believe the Euro crisis are about to spread to Spain and Portugal, after Greece took a hard hit in the beginning of the month. The Euro have taken a hard hit and lost over 6 % against the Euro the last weeks. Are Europe just in the beginning of the crisis, while US are on their way out?

Spain deny lost budget control

“We have control of the ship, we have a plan,” said María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, Spain’s deputy premier. Earlier the same day, the prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, visited Washington
where he was confident about his home country: “Spain has a strong and solid financial system.”

Well, all are not as confident. Both Madrid and Lisbon ran up their budget deficits to dampen the effects of the economic crisis and partly because of (more…)

The Dollar ended the week with monthly records against its major six rivals, indicating a broad strenght of the US currency.

Major investors and forex analysts expect that recent stronger economic data will prompt FED to higher interest rates sooner the earlier expected.

Stronger data supports the US dollar

The recent series of stronger data are shifting to support the dollar. “At least from an interest-rates perspective,” said Mike Moran, senior forex strategist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York. (more…)

Forex Traders are worried Fridays release of the US unemployment rate was way worse then expected and now the US Dollar might face further decrease.

American Labor Department reported that the much higher unemployment rate could be due to lagging data. The non-farm payroll employment fell by 216 000 jobs in August, followed by a revised decrease of 276 000 jobs in July. The new numbers are indication that America is now facing a 9.7 % unemployment rate, the highest in 26 years. Financial analysts and currency traders did expect a 9.4 % unemployment rate in July.

Further pressure on US Dollar

However, it seems like the decrease have moderated the last months, even if some sectors still face continued job losses. Still, consumer confident might be lagging in the coming months. As a result of the unexpected numbers from USA, many online forex traders assume that the US Dollar will continue to suffer against the Euro and Yen.

As the stock markets are starting to take a dip again, investors are moving away from smaller and riskier markets and currencies.

Swedish krona are having a hard time

One of the currencies that had a hard hit is the Swedish Krona, falling 1.35 % yesterday. It’s expected to fall from (more…)