Exchange Rate News: Euro Stronger, Pound Knocked By Manufacturing Figures

Published: 2 Jan at 10 AM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Africa,

Pound Sterling
GBP/USD– Trading in the Region 1.6566
The Pound began the local session slightly stronger against the Euro but little-changed against the US Dollar. However, Sterling later shed gains against the common currency as UK manufacturing PMI unexpectedly slipped from a negatively revised 58.1 to 57.3 in December.

US Dollar
USD/GBP – Trading in the Region of 0.6038
If today’s initial jobless claims report and ISM manufacturing figures for the US support the case for the Federal Reserve continuing to taper stimulus during 2014 the ‘Greenback’ could extend its rally against its most traded currency peers.

Euro
EUR/USD – Trading in the Region of 1.3718
The Euro strengthened as European trading progressed and manufacturing reports for Germany and the Eurozone showed improvement. Gains were slightly limited however as Spanish, Italian and French figures failed to meet expectations.

Australian Dollar
AUD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.8886
With reports indicating that China’s manufacturing sector is struggling, Australia’s trade prospects took a knock and the Australian Dollar softened against the majority of its rivals. News that Australia’s AiG performance of manufacturing index dropped from 47.7 to 47.6 also triggered ‘Aussie’ losses.

New Zealand Dollar
NZD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.8187
In a quiet news day for New Zealand, ‘Kiwi’ movement was inspired by global developments, including less-than-impressive manufacturing data for China. The South Pacific currency closed trading weaker against peers like the Australian Dollar and Pound.

Canadian Dollar
CAD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.9391
Signs that the US economic recovery continues to go from strength-to-strength while Canadian growth remains patchy are keeping the ‘Loonie’ locked in a bearish relationship with the US Dollar. Today’s Canadian manufacturing report could inspire Canadian Dollar movement during North American trading.

Japanese Yen
USD/JPY – Trading in the Region of 105.3600
The Yen remained softer against the ‘Greenback’ as Australasian trading closed. The safe-haven asset may extend declines if today’s US jobless and manufacturing reports impress.

South African Rand
USD/ZAR – Trading in the Region of 10.5038
As 2014 got underway the Rand was trading in a fairly narrow range against its US counterpart having edged slightly lower on Tuesday in response to an upbeat US confidence measure. The South African currency was little affected by the release of domestic private sector credit figures.
As of Thursday, 2nd January 2014, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.2036, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.6448, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.8469, GBP NZD exchange rate was 2.0094, GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.755, GBP CNY exchange rate was 9.9522, GBP JPY exchange rate was 172.4485, and GBP ZAR exchange rate was 17.5651.

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