Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Dollar Slumps

Dollar Slumps

by Korman Tam

The Dollar relinquished gains against the euro and Aussie on the Tuesday session as UK and US markets returned from holiday. The US equity bourses lauded earlier upbeat economic reports, with a sharp unexpected rise in the Conference Board's May consumer confidence survey to its highest level in 8 months at 54.9, versus a revised 40.8 a month earlier - triggering a sharp rally in the Nasdaq, up 3.45% and the Dow Jones, advancing by over 2.5%. The Richmond Fed manufacturing survey reversed some of its previous month's declines, as the composite index edged up to 4 in May versus -9 in April, while the manufacturing shipments component improved to 9 from -3 and the services index held steady at -29.

However, not all the reports were positive, with the S&P Case-Shiller home price survey reinforcing current downward pressure on the housing market. The S&P Case-Shiller index in March slumped by 2.2% on a monthly basis and plunged by 18.7% on an annualized basis.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Bloomberg Forex News

Euro Declines as Economy Contracts Most in at Least 13 Years

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- The euro fell against the dollar and extended a weekly loss versus the yen as the economy of the 16- nation region contracted the most in at least 13 years, raising concern the pace of recovery will be slow.

The U.S. currency pared its loss against the yen as manufacturing in the New York region contracted this month the least since August and the six-month outlook improved for a third straight month. The euro was headed for its first weekly decline versus the dollar in a month on Europe’s contraction.

“It’s a really bad piece of data, and it’s going to get worse because the European Central Bank has only come up with half-hearted measures,” said Geoffrey Yu, a strategist in London at UBS AG, the world’s second-largest currency trader. “This is going to be bad for the euro.”

The euro slid 0.5 percent to $1.3573 at 10:15 a.m. in New York, from $1.3639 yesterday, and was headed for a weekly decrease of 0.4 percent. The euro lost 1.1 percent to 129.27 yen from 130.67, for a 3.5 percent decline this week. The dollar dropped 0.6 percent to 95.25 yen, from 95.80, after earlier decreasing 1.1 percent.

The yen gained this week versus all of the 16 most actively traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg as reports indicating the global economic recovery may be slow reduced demand for higher- yielding assets. The yen rallied 7.6 percent to 11.06 against the South African rand and increased 5.7 percent to 14.70 versus Norway’s krone.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Yen Falls as Signs of U.S., Chinese Recovery Pare Safety Demand

Yen Falls as Signs of U.S., Chinese Recovery Pare Safety Demand

May 1 (Bloomberg) -- The yen fell to a two-week low against the euro while the dollar dropped as signs of recovery in manufacturing in the U.S. and China sapped demand for the currencies as a refuge.

Australia’s dollar rose for a ninth week against the greenback as the rand gained today versus all of the other major currencies on speculation investors will buy higher-yielding assets. The dollar advanced against the yen as the yield premium of 10-year Treasuries over comparable Japanese debt increased this week to the highest level since November.

“There’s renewed optimism about the global economy,” said Samarjit Shankar, director of strategy for the global markets group in Boston at Bank of New York Mellon, the world’s largest custodial bank, with about $20 trillion in assets under administration. “Money is coming from the sidelines. For now, risk appetite is weighing on the yen, and the dollar remains on its back foot.”

The euro rose 1.1 percent to 131.98 yen at 10:05 a.m. in New York, from 130.52 yesterday, and reached 132.35, the highest level since April 14. The yen declined 0.9 percent to 99.47 against the dollar, from 98.63. It touched 99.58, the weakest level since April 17. The euro appreciated 0.3 percent to $1.3273 from $1.3230.