FX News Now: Greek Debt Discussions to Provoke Euro Movement

Published: 20 Feb at 12 PM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Greece,

Pound Sterling
Less-than-impressive retail sales and public finance figures for the UK saw the Pound drift lower against several of its most-traded currency counterparts during the European session. Declines against the Euro were limited however as investors focused on an upcoming gathering of European finance ministers.

US Dollar
A bout of Greek-inspired risk aversion saw the US Dollar gain on its higher-risk rivals on Friday. However, demand for the ‘Greenback’ could falter if today’s US Markit Manufacturing PMI shows a steeper-than-projected decline.

Euro
Although the Eurozone published some positive Services/Composite PMI figures, the common currency failed to see much benefit as focus remained firmly on the gathering of Eurogroup officials in Brussels. Failure to secure a debt-deal could see the common currency decline.

Australian Dollar
The ‘Aussie’ was able to recoup some of its recent declines against peers like the Pound and US Dollar during the Australasian session as an analyst from Standard & Poor’s intimated that Australia’s AAA credit rating isn’t at risk in the short term.

New Zealand Dollar
In spite of concerns that today’s gathering of Eurogroup officials could push Greece closer to exiting the Eurozone, the New Zealand Dollar remained trending higher against peers like the Australian Dollar. This week’s FOMC meeting minutes pushed back Fed rate hike expectations slightly, bolstering the ‘Kiwi’ in the process.

Canadian Dollar
Falling oil prices and the expectation that today’s Canadian retail sales data will show a decline in sales left the ‘Loonie’ under pressure. However, if the figures surprise to the upside the Canadian Dollar could recoup losses before the close of trading.
As of Friday, 20th February 2015, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.3528, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.5395, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.9627, GBP NZD exchange rate was 2.0475, and GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.9293.

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