Foreign Exchange News

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock market futures were mixed Monday, as a climb in oil prices was offset by a $25 billion bid for Guidant and Verizon Communications' plan to sell a unit valued at more than $17 billion. document.write('');   MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS Futures flat as mergers offset crude climb above $60 China to order up to 150 jetliners from Airbus Dollar hits 3 ...

Gold and other precious metal prices have hit fresh highs as investors try to protect themselves against inflation and currency declines. A number of other factors, such as demand from jewellery makers, are also contributing to create what some investors are calling a commodity boom. Gold rose as far as $508.50 an ounce, its best since 1983, before giving up some gains to trade at $506.66. Platinum prices are near 26-year highs, while silver set an 18-year best. Commodity prices do not seem  ...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Bond prices ended the week slightly lower as investors largely ignored strong U.S. employment data and statements by Federal Reserve officials on Friday, expecting the central bank to continue raising interest rates. The dollar rose against the euro and was relatively unchanged against the yen. The benchmark 10-year note slipped one tick to 99-26/32 to yield 4.52 percent, up slightly from 4.51 late Thursday. The 30-year bond fell 1/32 of a point to 109-18 ...

Brazil's financial markets have soared to an all-time high as investors backed expectations that interest rates will shortly be cut. The South American giant's economy has slowed, shrinking 1.2% in the three months to September from the previous quarter. That, dealers believe, means a rate cut to encourage growth is on the cards. The Bovespa index ended up 0.66% at 32,832 with Brazil's currency, the real, firming 0.54% to 2.21 per dollar. The central bank in Brasilia has cut the country's in ...

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) - The dollar was off its best levels of the day Friday, after the Labor Department announced that 215,000 jobs were created last month. The increase pointed toward a strong labor market but fell beneath the expectations of economists polled by Dow Jones for a gain of 223,000 jobs. The dollar last was up 0.1% at 120.61 yen, after earlier trading as high as 120.81 yen. The ...

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) - The dollar regained some strength after the Treasury Department denied that Secretary John Snow said finance ministers of the Group of Seven most industrialized nations will discuss yen weakness at their weekend meeting. The dollar last was quoted up 0.3% at 120.79 yen. Earlier the dollar skid to 120.17 yen immediately after the erroneous report of Snow's remarks. The  ...

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) - The dollar was mixed in late trade Friday, after earlier reaching its best level against the yen in more than two and a half news on data pointing to a strong labor market and contained inflation. The dollar was down 0.08% at 120.40 yen late in the day. Earlier the dollar traded as high as 121.22 yen, its strongest standing since April, 2003, after the November employment ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Finance ministers from the world's leading economies sought to breathe life into world trade talks on Saturday with an urgent appeal for the revival of negotiations ahead of a meeting in Hong Kong in 10 days' time. "We want to do what we can at this opportunity. This is a $300 billilon dollar issue," British finance minister Gordon Brown said after chairing talks among the  ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Japan showed little concern on Saturday as the yen hit 32-month lows beyond 121 per dollar, saying the move reflected economic fundamentals and was in line with the central bank's policy framework. Speaking after a meeting of finance chiefs at the Group of Seven, Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki repeated that recent currency moves reflected economic fundamentals when asked  ...