The following Forex news reports are the latest developments of the Forex market. The news reports are updated frequently and include all the events that affect the foreign exchange trading industry.
An unexpected improvement in activity in the services sector helped to push the U.S. Dollar Index higher to an 11-month peak; that improvement has helped to increase speculation that third quarter economic growth will have also improved and likely be on track to finish the year on target.
Market trading was exceptionally subdued as investors await the policy announcements from several of the world’s major central banks, including the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank.
Disappointing economic data from the U.S. on Friday resulted in the U.S. Dollar later suffering the largest single day’s decline in more than three weeks.
FX traders are eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s release of the U.S. Labor Department’s non-farms payroll data for July to either confirm the Federal Reserve’s assertion that the all-important labor sector still has room for improvement.
The U.S. Dollar’s recent rally came to a halt despite unexpectedly upbeat GDP data after the Federal Reserve Bank signaled a dovish bias in its policy statement.
Dollar bulls helped to push the U.S. Dollar higher and close to a 6-month peak versus a weighted basket of its peers with FX traders saying that repatriation of funds by U.S. corporations as the month draws to a close may have helped to push the greenback higher in the absence of any key economic data.
The U.S. Dollar Index, used by investors to gauge the relative value of the greenback to its major peers, remained within striking distance of a 6-month high as investors await the Federal Reserve’s policy review which is due out on Wednesday.
In Asian trading, the U.S. Dollar Index held close to a 6-month peak while the greenback managed to hold onto last week’s gains against the Euro.
Unexpectedly strong labor data from the U.S. helped to keep the U.S. Dollar supported versus the Japanese Yen.
As widely expected by analysts in a recent poll, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced on Wednesday that it would raise its cash rate to 3.5%, an increase of 25 basis points.
Expectations continue to grow higher that the European Central Bank is poised to provide additional accommodation which will further weaken the Euro; as a result, in preparation for that likelihood, the Euro fell broadly in Asian trading.
Risk aversion is waning slightly with the result that safe haven currencies traded within a narrow trading band during the Asian session.
The start of the trading week began in Asia with calm following an escalation of tensions in the Middle East and the downing of a Malaysian passenger jet, a casualty of the Ukraine-Russian conflict.
The downing of a Malaysian passenger jet along the border of Russia and the Ukraine, as well as an escalation of geopolitical tensions in Israel and Gaza have sent investors rushing to the Japanese Yen, pushing the safe haven currency higher by 0.5% against the U.S. Dollar and to a 5-month peak versus the Euro.
The common currency held close to a 5-month trough versus the Japanese Yen and a multi-year low against the Pound Sterling after falling broadly on the back of disappointing economic data from Germany.
