Foreign Exchange News

By Kenneth Barry NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Friday, capping a weeklong rally at 4-1/2-year highs, on optimism about the U.S. interest-rate outlook, while weaker-than-expected payrolls data pushed the dollar lower. Gold futures rose on the weaker dollar, trading within reach of $540.90 an ounce; bond prices fell after a rally that had pushed benchmark yields to three-month lows and crude ...

HONG KONG (Dow Jones) On the currency markets, reaction was muted to China's announcement Thursday that it intended to begin diversifying its foreign exchange reserves away from U.S. dollars and government bonds. By the close of trading Friday in Shanghai, the yuan slipped to 8.0668 per dollar, a decline of 0.001 yuan on the day. On Thursday China's foreign exchange administrator posted a state ...

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) - After being jerked in two directions in the immediate wake of a mixed U.S. jobs report on Friday, the dollar eventually fell sharply against both the euro and the yen. The dollar fell to its lowest against the yen since the middle of October. The dollar index also fell to two-month lows, trading under the 89 mark for the first time since Oct. 28. U.S. payroll job g ...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures closed at their highest level in three months Friday to mark a weekly gain of more than 5%, but natural-gas prices finished more than 14% below their week-ago level.   MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS U.S. stocks rally to new highs in afternoon trading Dec. payrolls up 108,000; jobless rate falls to 4.9% Bush comes out swinging on  ...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) - Treasury Secretary John Snow on Thursday credited the 2003 tax cuts with spurring economic growth and predicted that wage growth would soon pick up amid a tightening labor market. In remarks prepared for delivery to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce-sponsored forum, Snow said the economy is likely near a "tipping point" when it comes to wages. "Once businesses have been doi ...

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The dollar was holding to a tight range on Friday vs. major rivals, with analysts predicting further weakness for the greenback if jobs growth data doesn't come in as strong as forecast. The euro was recently at $1.2088 from $1.2103 late Thursday, while the dollar was trading at 116.12 yen from 116.02 yen late Thursday. Non-farm payrolls likely grew by about 207,000 i ...

China’s foreign exchange regulator raised more questions than it answered with a statement on Thursday evening about a possible change in its strategy for managing the country’s burgeoning foreign currency reserves. // Buried in an announcement about the agency’s objectives for 2006, the State Administration for Foreign Exchange (Safe) said it wanted to “optimise the currency and asset structure” of the country’s foreign exchange reserves and to “actively boost investment returns”. Althou ...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures closed above $541 an ounce Friday to log a gain of more than 4% for the week with a decline in the U.S. dollar driving investors toward precious metals as a hedge against potential losses.   MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS U.S. stocks gain as jobs data fuel interest-rate hopes Broad impact seen from China's latest currency move Dec. pa ...

Metals prices started the new year as they finished the old, with copper reaching a new record and gold, aluminium and zinc hitting multi-year highs. // Last year brought a fourth consecutive year of double-digit returns for major commodity indices, which is expected to encourage a new wave of capital to enter the sector in 2006. “Although there’s huge interest from institutional investors and high net worth individuals in commodities as an asset class, there appears to have been little in th ...

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) - China's latest signal this week that it will diversify foreign exchange reserves away from U.S. dollars and government bonds could ripple through U.S. and global markets, analysts said Friday. document.write('');   MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS U.S. stocks gain as jobs data fuel interest-rate hopes Dec. payrolls up 108,000; jobless rate falls to 4.9% Trea ...