Market News

Although the GDP in the Eurozone rose 0.8% in the first quarter, new reports reveal that it rose just 0.2% in Q2 2011, the worst performance in the region since late 2009.

The Euro attempted to hold onto the 1.3% gain made during yesterday’s trading session but news of slowing growth in Germany, the economic driver of the Eurozone, is sending the Euro lower.

In early Asian trading, the common currency Euro and the U.S. Dollar rose against the Swiss Franc as investors proceed cautiously, in the even the Swiss National Bank follows through on its intervention threat.

The Swiss Franc suffered heavy losses against the U.S. Dollar and the common currency Euro earlier during the Asian trading session, a repercussion of the Swiss National Bank's efforts to suppress the Swiss currency's rise.

As the European equity markets open higher for trading, the common currency is also higher against the U.S. Dollar, trading most recently at 1.4236, but is still viewed as vulnerable to selling pressure as investors worry that the Eurozone’s fiscal crisis may be spreading to France.

Ahead of the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented pledge to hold interest rates at the current record for a minimum of 2 years, the U.S. Dollar had edged up against the commodity-linked Australian Dollar.

The fallout from the U.S. downgrade continues at a rapid clip; a full 24-hour cycle has passed, with Asian, then European and finally, U.S. markets all suffering from sell-off fever.

Following Friday’s announcement by Standard & Poor’s rating agency that the U.S. credit rating was to be downgraded to AA+ from their top-of-the-line AAA rating, the U.S. Dollar is under heavy pressure.

As analysts had previously suggested, the effects of the intervention efforts by the Swiss National Bank were short-lived.

Earlier in the Asian trading session, the Bank of Japan followed through on earlier hints that an intervention in the Yen’s rise would be forthcoming.

Continued market jitteriness and risk version is sending investors to the safe haven currencies at the expense of the Euro and AUD.

For the second consecutive day, the Euro declined against the U.S. Dollar and the Swiss Franc as investors focus is being drawn to recent data

After U.S. President Barack Obama announced late last night that the U.S. legislature had finally hammered out a deal which would raise the U.S. debt ceiling and ensure that a U.S. default would not occur

With Moody’s credit agency now reviewing the country’s situation, Spain may be the next country to have its debt status downgraded, once again fueling fears of contagion and instability in the region.

Investor fears of further debt contagion in the Eurozone sent the Euro broadly lower in Asian trading today, while the U.S. Dollar was also under pressure as the debt ceiling debate rages on in Washington.