US Dollar Weaker, Pound Boosted By Positive UK Data, Euro Fluctuations Likely

Published: 5 Aug 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, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Africa, Portugal,

Pound Sterling
GBP/EUR – Trading in the Region of 1.1521
As the European session got underway the Pound continued to edge away from last week’s lows against the Euro and US Dollar. Sterling received another boost as trade continued and UK services PMI smashed estimates, coming in at 60.2 in July rather than the 57.4 expected.

US Dollar
USD/EUR – Trading in the Region of 0.7527
Last week’s disappointing US employment news has lowered the odds of the Federal Reserve tapering stimulus in September. Consequently, the US Dollar has turned bearish against several of its biggest currency rivals. ‘Greenback’ volatility could be inspired by today’s US ISM non-manufacturing composite index.

Euro (Currency of Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Ireland etc)
EUR/USD – Trading in the Region of 1.3286
The common currency began the week slightly softer against the British Pound but trading strongly against the US Dollar. Euro fluctuations can be expected to occur today in response to several pieces of Eurozone data, including retail sales figures for the currency bloc. Reports have already shown that German services PMI failed to reach estimates while Eurozone services PMI came in slightly higher than the expected level.

Australian Dollar
AUD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.8901
Although economists had forecast that Australian retail sales would gain by 0.4 per cent in June, they unexpectedly stagnated. The AiG performance of services index also slid from 41.5 to 39.4. Consequently, Australia’s currency plummeted to within touching distance of a three-year low against the Greenback and was weaker against several of its other main rivals.

New Zealand Dollar
NZD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.7802
With China banning imports of milk powder from one of New Zealand’s major producers, the New Zealand Dollar tumbled against several of its main rivals during the local session. The ‘Kiwi’ notably dropped to a month-low against its US peer.

Canadian Dollar
CAD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.9633
While a lower-than-expected gain in US employment weakened the US Dollar and bolstered the ‘Loonie’ at the close of last week, the Canadian Dollar softened slightly over the weekend. As the next pieces of significant economic data for Canada, a building permits report and Ivey purchasing managers index, aren’t due out until Wednesday ‘Loonie’ fluctuations are likely to be driven by news from the US.

Japanese Yen
USD/JPY – Trading in the Region of 98.4100
The declining odds of the Federal Reserve opting to taper stimulus in September saw Japan’s Yen advance on the US Dollar for a second day. Japanese news to watch out for this week includes the release of the nation’s leading index and the Bank of Japan’s rate decision/monetary policy statement.

South African Rand
ZAR/USD – Trading in the Region of 9.8470
As trade gets underway for another week South Africa’s Rand rallied against its broadly softening safe-haven American counterpart. This week domestic triggers for movement in the commodity driven currency include Thursday’s manufacturing production figures.
As of Monday, 5th August 2013, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.1577, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.5348, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.7203, GBP NZD exchange rate was 1.9553, GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.59, GBP CNY exchange rate was 9.4004, GBP JPY exchange rate was 150.8037, and GBP ZAR exchange rate was 15.1025.

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