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.

After a slightly extended up-and-down effort to take hold of the $1,300 level, gold prices wasted little time moving past $1,400. The Monday (November 8) gold spot rate is $1,406.30 in lunchtime trade on the New York NYMEX.

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 …

Stock markets continued its bullish run overnight as Investors reacted to the FOMC decision to inject a further £600 billion in additional stimulus. Strong price movement was seen on the FTSE 100 index (Futures) before the opening bell signalling further gains during the European trading session. The safetly linked USD saw strong weakness overnight with the current GBP/USD level close to a year high.
Falling on the back of the Fed’s announcement that it is to embark on a fresh round of quantitative easing (QE), the dollar has started the day …

The dollar fell across the board in early morning trade after a brief spike against the yen on talk of intervention from the Bank of Japan. However, the move was later dismissed as a miss-hit or technical glitch with the dollar quickly falling back. The euro is testing resistance at $1.40, as the market gears up for the Federal Reserve policy meeting which takes place tomorrow and Wednesday. The general expectations is that the Fed will announce further quantitative easing measures (QE) but dollar direction will very much depend on …