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Forex News – Euro weighed down by Italy’s downgrade

Posted on July 10, 2013 at 10:23 am GMT

The euro remains weak a day after Italy’s sovereign credit rating was lowered by Standard & Poor’s. Europe’s third largest economy has been downgraded by one notch from BBB+ to BBB. Italy is now two notches above junk status following the rating downgrade, with a negative outlook that suggests a further downgrade is possible. In a statement the S&P cited concerns for the Italian economy which has been mired in the worst recession since the Second World War. The euro [..]

Forex News – Sterling tumbles after weak UK manufacturing data

Posted on July 9, 2013 at 9:32 am GMT

Sterling fell by 100 pips against the dollar after disappointing U.K. manufacturing data, raising concerns about the economic recovery in Britain. According to a report released by the Office for National Statistics today in London, manufacturing output in Britain contracted in May by 0.8 percent, despite forecasts for an increase of 0.3 percent. The decline was at the fastest rate since January. Industrial production fell 2.3 percent in May from a year earlier. Adding to the bad news, the trade [..]

Forex News – Reactions to Bank of England post-policy meeting statement

Posted on July 4, 2013 at 1:34 pm GMT

The Bank of England held its monthly policy meeting on Thursday and as expected, the Monetary Policy Committee announced its decision to keep the benchmark interest rate at a record low 0.50 percent and made no change to its 375 billion pound asset purchase facility. The statement released was dovish and was taken negatively by the markets, sending the pound sterling tumbling by over 1 percent against the dollar. Below are some comments made by economists following today’s BOE statements: [..]

Forex News – Sterling tumbles after dovish Bank of England statement

Posted on July 4, 2013 at 11:57 am GMT

The British pound took a big hit after the release of the Bank of England monetary policy statement. Although the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) decision to keep rates on hold at 0.50 percent was widely expected, as well as the maintenance of the asset purchase program at 375 billion pounds, the MPC statements appeared pretty dovish. The MPC said that the U.K. recovery “remains weak by historical standards and a degree of slack is expected to persist for some time”. [..]

Forex News – USDJPY bounces after drop in U.S. jobless claims

Posted on July 3, 2013 at 1:31 pm GMT

The dollar rebounded from a sharp fall against the yen after the release of strong U.S. employment data on Wednesday. A report showed initial weekly jobless claims fell for a second straight week, suggesting a stabilizing labor sector. The data comes just after the private ADP jobs report which showed the number of jobs created in June rose to 188,000 positions from the prior month’s 134,000 and beat forecast of 161,000 jobs. Meanwhile the U.S. Labor Department initial jobless claims [..]

Forex News – Sterling jumps after UK Services PMI surprises higher

Posted on July 3, 2013 at 10:47 am GMT

Sterling jumped against the dollar and the euro after U.K. data beat forecasts and expanded at the fastest rate since March 2011 last month, easing concerns over the country’s economic outlook. The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the services sector surprisingly rose higher-than-expected and higher than the previous month. The June PMI compiled by Markit CIPS showed a 56.9, defying forecasts for it to fall to 54.5 from May’s 54.9. A number above 50.0 indicates expansion in the industry, while [..]

Forex News – USDJPY rises after strong US factory orders

Posted on July 2, 2013 at 2:31 pm GMT

The dollar rose further against the yen after U.S. data showed that factory orders rose slightly above forecast in May by 2.1 percent, versus the 2.0 percent consensus. Also April factory orders were revised up to 1.3 percent. The upbeat data lifted market sentient during the New York trading hours, as it gave optimism that the manufacturing sector in the world’s biggest economy is stabilizing. USDJPY soared to a high of 100.42 yen shortly after the data at 10am New [..]

Forex News – Portuguese Finance minister resigns amid harsh austerity measures

Posted on July 2, 2013 at 1:41 pm GMT

The euro came under pressure today as Portuguese bond yields surged higher on news that Portugal’s Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar resigned late on Monday. Since taking office two years ago, Gaspar implemented harsh austerity measures, which included tax rises, spending cuts and state job layoffs, all in an effort to bring the highly indebted peripheral Euro zone economy’s finance back to balance. These strict measures have given rise to growing discontent among the Portuguese people, a main factor leading to [..]

Forex News – Mark Carney takes over as new Bank of England governor

Posted on July 1, 2013 at 1:29 pm GMT

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, described Carney as “the outstanding central banker of his generation”, who will be able to provide the kickstart that propels the economy out of a shaky recovery. Carney will hold his first Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Wednesday when he will face the dilemma of how to direct the Bank’s monetary policy. At his meeting though, the MPC is expected to hold interest rates at their record low 0.5 per cent and make [..]

Forex News – EU adds Croatia as 28th member

Posted on July 1, 2013 at 11:08 am GMT

The European Union has an additional member as from July 1st, after Croatia has become the 28th member of the bloc, 10 years after its application to join. Crowds celebrated in the capital Zagreb while European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso welcomed them and Croatian President Josipovic said it was “a great and joyful day for our homeland”. This the day when we open a new chapter in the thick book of our history.” “The accession of Croatia to the [..]

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