In London trading today, both the U.S. Dollar and the Japanese Yen made gains on the single currency Euro, while other commodities-linked currencies also suffered declines on continuing investor concerns over the global economic outlook.
By: Barbara Zigah
As reported at 9:03 a.m. (GMT), the Euro slipped to $1.3858, a loss of .5% against the U.S. Dollar; versus the Japanese Yen, the Euro lost .9%, trading at 132.87 Yen. The Euro continues to come under selling pressure ahead of the ECB’s highly anticipated 1-year refinancing operation scheduled to begin Wednesday, the goal of which is to encourage banks to start lending again by reducing the borrowing costs for the banks, ultimately to be passed down as savings to consumers and businesses.
Euro zone data showed the Ifo Business Climate Index, a gauge of German business sentiment, rising higher than expected to 85.9 this month from 84.3 in May and bettering the analysts’ prediction of 85.2. According to one trader, a recent article about the German budget deficit in the Wall Street Journal gave investors an additional excuse to sell the single currency Euro. Increasing the Euro selling pressure further was a comment by a London-based currency strategist who suggested that investors would want to move out of the Euro if the Euro zone short term interest rates were to become volatile. However, an ECB member recently was quoted as saying that interest rates would likely remain on hold for the remainder of the year.
Euro slips versus U.S. Dollar and Japanese Yen
After working on Wall Street, Barb began her second career as a freelance writer at Daily Forex, where the CEO recognized fresh, untapped potential and was willing to give her a try. She’s never looked back. Since then, she’s worked steadily as a freelance writer and editor in the financial services and Forex-related industry.