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April 9, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The Japanese yen weakened Thursday as equities markets made gains, encouraging investors to pursue risky carry trades, in which higher-yielding currencies purchases are funded by the lower-yielding yen.
The yen traded at ¥132.4119 to the euro at late morning in New York, while it was at ¥100.355 to the US dollar, at ¥15.0838 to the Norwegian krone, at ¥71.76 to the Australian dollar ...
April 8, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The Japanese yen strengthened Wednesday on a flight from risk after the first of the quarterly reports from corporations were disappointing and on new data from Europe which showed that Germany exported fewer goods and the UK economy contracted by 1.5 percent in the first quarter.
Expectations that Japan will report another drop in machinery orders tomorrow, however, could limit the yen’s ...
April 6, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The yen was lower Monday as investor sentiment improved on hopes that the worst of the economic crisis could be over, although by late morning trade in New York, the Japanese currency had gained back some of its earlier losses.
With interest rates at 3.25 percent and 3 percent respectively compared to near-zero rates in Japan and the United States, the Australian and New ...
April 2, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The pound strengthened versus the US dollar Thursday after Nationwide Building Society said in a new report that the average price of a house in the UK was up 0.9 percent in March from February, the first increase in nearly a year and a half, rising to £150,946 against an expected continuation of price declines.
In late morning trade, the pound traded ...
March 31, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The Japanese yen was weaker Tuesday as equities markets recovered from Monday’s big declines and ahead of the Bank of Japan’s quarterly Tankan survey, which is expected to say that Japanese business confidence was significantly lower in the first quarter of 2009 than it was in the last quarter of 2008.
At just after 11 a.m. in New York, the yen traded at ...
March 30, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The US dollar and the Japanese yen saw gains Monday as investors looked for safe places to put their cash as equities markets declined and on the possibility that US automaker General Motors (NYSE: GM) could face bankruptcy.
In remarks during the day, US President Barack Obama said that neither GM nor Chrysler have yet proposed reorganization plans sufficient to justify further ...
March 27, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The pound and the euro were weaker Friday as new data indicated that the recession is deepening in Europe.
Eurozone factory orders were reported by the European Union office of statistics to have dropped 3.4 percent in January from December, while orders were down 34 percent from January 2008.
Meanwhile, the pound was weaker on reports that the UK’s gross domestic product ...
March 26, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The Japanese yen weakened Thursday as investors sought out more risky trades for higher-yielding currencies as sentiment turned positive on hopes that the global economic crisis has reached bottom.
In addition, the yen was hurt by speculation that a report due Friday from Japan’s trade ministry will say that retail sales there were down again in February, for the sixth month in ...
March 25, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The US dollar weakened in relation to the euro and the yen Wednesday, but by midday in New York it had recovered some of its declines on comments from US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
The dollar faltered after Mr. Geithner said that the US would be open to enlarging special drawing rights of the International Monetary Fund, a development which would negatively affect the ...
March 24, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The Swiss franc strengthened Tuesday ahead of a speech by Swiss National Bank Governor Jean-Pierre Roth.
Some analysts expected Mr. Roth to use his remarks to attempt to intervene again to weaken the franc after the Bank took steps to pull the value of the currency down recently.
The Swiss currency traded at SFr1.5258 in relation to the euro in morning trade in ...
March 23, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The yen and the US dollar were weaker Monday as a new initiative by the US Treasury department to buy troubled assets, the Public-Private Investment Program, made it look as if there will be more willingness by investors to make risky investments.
The public part of the plan will be financed with money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
Meanwhile, the euro ...
March 18, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The pound was down Wednesday after unemployment claims were up by 138,400 to 1.39 million, more than expected, and on the news that the Bank of England voted unanimously to print up to £79 billion as part of its quantitative easing plan.
In addition, a leaked report from the International Monetary Fund was said to have predicted that the UK economy will contract by ...
March 17, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The pound fell in relation to the euro and the US dollar Tuesday on decline in equities markets were lower and on another drop in UK home prices.
The Department for Communities and Local Government reported that house prices in the UK were down 11.5 percent in January from the same month last year.
Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics is expected ...
March 16, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The euro and the pound both strengthened in relation to the US dollar on Monday, while the greenback also declined against the Swedish krona and the Korean won as equities markets gained to raise risk appetite among investors.
The pound made its gains as Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) said it has had a strong start to the year ...
March 13, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The Swiss franc was weaker again Friday as the Swiss National Bank continued to intervene to weaken the currency after its value rose so much that it has made Swiss products less competitive in the rest of Europe and in the US.
The intervention has taken the Swiss currency to its biggest weekly decline versus the euro since 1999 and comes ...
March 12, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The Swiss franc was weaker Thursday after the Swiss National Bank intervened to weaken the currency by cutting the interest rate there to 0.25 percent and by buying foreign currencies, the Swiss central bank also said it will begin purchasing corporate bonds.
At nearly noon in New York, the Swiss franc traded at SFr1.5226 to the euro and at SFr1.1905 to ...
March 10, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The pound saw declines Tuesday on more bad economic news for the UK, but it still managed to gain on the US dollar.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported that the average number of transactions per estate agent fell to 9.5 in the three months ending in February, the worst in the thirty years since records have been kept, while ...
March 9, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The pound declined Monday on the news that the UK government has taken a majority stake in Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY), with the bank giving up control in exchange for government guarantees on £260 billion ($367 billion) of its risky assets.
At shortly before noon in New York, the pound traded at 91.63p to the euro
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen weakened on a ...
March 6, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The Australian dollar weakened Friday on declines in US and Australian equities markets and ahead of a report due next week which is expected to show that Australian unemployment was up in February.
Analysts expect the report to say that 20,000 more people were unemployed in Australia in February and that the unemployment rate grew to 5 percent in the month.
At just past 11 ...
March 5, 2009
by Elaine Frei
The euro and the pound were both weaker Thursday after both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England cut interest rates to historic lows, while the euro was further hurt by a ECB forecast that the Eurozone economy will contract by between 2.2 and 3.2 percent this year.
The ECB lowered Eurozone interest rates to 1.5 percent, a cut ...
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