EURO THREATENED OVER IRISH GOVERNMENT ELECTION LOSS
Ireland’s release of its four year fiscal plan seems to have done little to ease market concerns, with the euro remaining on the back foot versus the dollar and sterling. As well as the concerns about Ireland, the threat of similar problems in Portugal and Spain means the euro will likely stay under pressure in the near term. Ongoing tensions in Korea are also weighing as they benefit the safe haven dollar over other majors. Lows of $1.3284 versus the dollar were seen late …

Price action within the Forex markets yesterday proved indecisive during the opening bell in London, as global equities and the US Dollar, the benchmarks for their respective sides of the “risk on” vs. “risk off” argument remained unchanged. This however was soon to change, as the highly anticipated release of the US GDP results for the 3Q were released. US market participants reacted with the competing catalysts driving price action; which in the end clearly favoured renewed risk aversion. Stocks were heavily sold off and the Dollar was heavily favoured …

The news that Ireland has formally requested aid from the European Commission and the IMF has brought some stability to markets, with the euro extending gains in early morning trade and regional share prices rallying. The dollar/euro is pushing towards the $1.38, while sterling/euro has also seen solid gains since Friday on hopes that a deal would be done. The full details of the package have yet to be put in place but news reports this morning say that it could be €80-90 billion and will include money for the …

Oil prices have seen restricted upward mobility and gold prices have fallen in lieu of a stronger dollar the last two weeks. The greenback has climbed higher against most major currencies and on the whole after the initial reaction to the Fed’s $600 billion Treasury bond purchase.

Rising US treasury yields and stronger than expected October retail sales data yesterday helped the dollar climb to a six-week high against a basket of currencies. Yesterday also saw the president of the Richmond Fed say that the Fed might need to tighten policy to avoid a surge in inflation. Adding to the increasing unease over the second round of quantitative easing (QE2) were reports that a group of prominent Republican-leaning economists were to launch a campaign calling for the Fed to abandon the scheme.
The euro traded as low as …

Currency speculators are struggling to make sense of everything happening around them in the global economy. At the moment (November 10), the dollar is in a stronger position following the Central Bank sell off of some 10-year debt at a lower than expected yield.

Reaching highs of $1.428 versus the USD after last Wednesday’s announcement from the Fed that it was extending its quantitative easing activities, the euro has moved broadly lower as the week kicks off, with concerns about the public finances in some peripheral eurozone countries finally impacting on the currency. Speculators trimmed positions as the focus switched to uncertainties that could be caused by tough budgetary talks and local elections in Ireland and Greece, with the USD/EUR rate falling back below the $1.40 level. The dollar is also finding some support …