Foreign Exchange News

Chris Papatheofanous was a medical lab technologist with a prized collection of old coins from the Middle East, when she realised that owning some of Iraq’s new currency, the dinar, might be a better investment than the relics she was selling on the side. // Now, nearly three years later, Ms Papatheofanous no longer works in the medical industry and her salary has quadrupled. She deals Iraqi dinar full-time from her home in Quebec, Canada, and sells millions of them each week. “It’s very specu ...

The dollar stabilized against most of its major rivals early Wednesday, holding on to gains scored in the previous session after a hawkish statement on interest rates from the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, the British pound took a hit following worse-than-expected current account deficit and retail sector data. In early New York trading, the dollar was fetching 118.12 yen, up 0.3%. The euro wa ...

The dollar rallied across the board Tuesday after the Federal Reserve delivered on a widely expected interest-rate increase and signaled more hikes to come. The Federal Open Market Committee raised its overnight lending rate by a quarter percentage point to 4.75%. "Some further policy firming may be needed to keep the risks to the attainment of both sustainable economic growth and price stab ...

The dollar traded higher against Japan's yen but fell against other major rivals early Tuesday, with caution prevailing ahead of an imminent announcement on U.S. interest rates by the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, the euro and other European currencies got a lift from a stronger- than-expected German business sentiment report and strong growth in money supply. Nick Bennenbroek, currency strate ...

The euro gained ground on Tuesday after German business sentiment unexpectedly climbed to a 15-year high. The euro rose to $1.2059 from $1.2016, while the dollar was up at 116.70 yen from 116.38 yen. The Ifo business climate poll in Germany rose to 105.4 in March from 103.4 in February, against expectations of a decline. Though German manufacturers has long seen the impact of an improving ...

By John Mair SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Japanese stocks fell as dividend plays slipped ahead of the fiscal year-end, while other Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday ahead of the first policy decision of the Federal Reserve under chairman Ben Bernanke. The dollar was defensive as investors waited to hear the Fed's thoughts on interest rates, while oil held above $64 a barrel as threats of attacks on o ...

Dubai is set to become the first financial centre in the Middle East to offer exchange-traded currency futures. // The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange said on Monday it was planning to offer contracts in dollar/euro, dollar/yen and dollar/sterling, probably from late May or early June. Further dollar pairs are expected to follow in due course. The DGCE believed the contracts would appeal to importers and exporters based in the Gulf, who needed to hedge their foreign exchange exposure, as w ...

The yen made strong gains on Monday, with continued selling of foreign bonds by Japanese investors said to be behind the move. // Data released on Friday by Japan’s Ministry of Finance revealed that Japanese investors sold a net Y1,480bn of foreign assets in the week to March 17, a six-fold increase on the week before. And there were reports of this trend continuing on Monday, ahead of the fisca ...

The Chinese yuan has hit a post-revaluation high against the US dollar. It closed at 8.0214 on Monday and has now risen 1.1% against the dollar since being revalued by 2.1% last year. It follows the visit of two US senators who came to study the value of the yuan and its impact on US-Chinese trade. They are proposing a bill to impose tariffs of up to 27.5% on some Chinese goods unless Beijing moves to free up its currency. A crucial vote on the issue is scheduled to take place on Friday. Tr ...

The dollar started the week on a mixed note, drifting lower against the yen but trading flat versus the euro, with the market clouded by uncertainty over the outlook for U.S. interest rates. The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to lift the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points after its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. This would be the 15th straight FOMC meeting ...