The single currency has steadied this week despite concerns about slow euro zone economic growth and the health of the region's banking system. A lingering sovereign debt crisis also weighed on the euro this summer, but intervention from Swiss and Japanese authorities have allowed the euro to stabilize versus the franc and yen.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will make no new policy announcements at the Fed's annual Jackson Hole retreat, according to reports citing analysts. Bernanke will give his assessment of the U.S. economy on Friday, while European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet is expected to make public remarks on Saturday.
The euro was stuck near $1.4450 versus the dollar, unable to break above a prolonged trading range. On the other hand, the euro edged higher versus the yen, rising to a more than two-week high of Y111.62.
Partly as a result of a union strike against Verizon Communications (VZ), new claims for U.S. unemployment insurance jumped over the last week, according to figures released Thursday by the Labor Department.
The report showed that 417,000 Americans filed new claims for unemployment insurance in the week ended August 20, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 412,000 new claims.
The euro touched a two-week high of GBP 0.8830 versus the sterling, and inched up to CHF 1.15 versus the Swiss franc, having touched a record low near parity earlier in August.
U.K. retail sales volume declined at the fastest pace in more than a year in August, as riots and spending cuts heavily weighed on consumer sentiment, a survey carried out by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said Thursday.
The balance of retailers reporting a fall in sales volume dipped more than expected to -14 percent, the largest fall since May 2010, and below July's balance of -5 percent, the latest quarterly Distributive Trades Survey showed Thursday.
German consumer confidence is likely to decline further in September as the worsening debt crisis and fears of a return to global recession weigh on sentiment.
The forward-looking consumer sentiment index for September fell to 5.2 from a revised reading of 5.3 in August. Economists had expected the index to fall to 5.1 from August's original score of 5.4.
Read more at forex trade
No comments:
Post a Comment