Foreign Exchange News

By Christopher Swann in WashingtonPublished: May 12 2006 14:00 | Last updated: May 12 2006 14:00US economic growth may have been as high as 6 per cent in the the first three months of this year, economists said on Friday after the latest data showed a much smaller-than-expected trade deficit for March. // The trade deficit narrowed to $62bn (€48bn, £33bn), down from the $65.6bn in February and f ...

The dollar tumbled to new one-year lows against European currencies Friday, after narrower-than-expected U.S. trade deficit data failed to reverse the broadly bearish sentiment in the market. But the greenback reversed early losses to trade flat against the yen as traders booked profit ahead of the weekend after the dollar's recent sharp move. "The U.S. trade deficit for March was smaller th ...

Another week, another set of losses for the dramatically diminishing dollar, which on Friday slumped to its lowest level since October 1997 in trade-weighted terms. // The continuing sell-off came amid a series of events that should, in theory, have aided the greenback. The Federal Reserve released a broadly hawkish monetary policy statement, Thursday’s US trade data was far better than feared, and the US Treasury declined to formally cite China for currency manipulation, a ruling that would ha ...

The dollar continued its slide Friday, hitting new one-year lows versus European currencies and eight-month low versus the yen, after much narrower- than-expected U.S. trade deficit data failed to reverse the broadly bearish sentiment in the market. The greenback staged a brief rally after a report showed the nation's trade deficit narrowed to $62.0 billion in March, the lowest since last Augus ...

China's trade surplus fell slightly in April, albeit not by enough to relieve the pressure on Beijing to free up its controls on its currency, the yuan. The $10.46bn (£4.3bn) surplus was down from $11.2bn in March, though it rose from $4.6bn a year earlier, China said. The news came two days after the US Treasury acknowledged China was not deliberately keeping the yuan low to boost exports and growth. But it expressed disappointment the currency was not traded more freely. For the firs ...

By Keiron Henderson LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 slid 1.5 percent to its lowest level in 6 weeks as dollar earners such as Amvescap (AVZ.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Wolseley (WOS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) dropped with the U.S. currency, joining a big retreat by resource stocks. Anglo-U.S. fund manager Amvescap and plumbing equipment maker Wolseley, both heavily reliant on U.S. earnings, slid around 4 percent. The dollar hit 1-year lows against the pound and euro, raising the pro ...

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- Telefonica SA, Europe third-largest telecommunications company, on Friday said quarterly profit jumped 40%, helped by the contribution of recent acquisitions O2 and Cesky Telecom. Net income for the first quarter rose to 1.27 billion euros ($1.63 billion), or 26.8 euro cents, from 912 million euros, or 18.6 euro cents, a year earlier. Sales soared 45.4% to 12 billion euros ...

The euro broke through the $1.29 level for the first time in a year on Friday, as the greenback slide continued ahead of data expected to show a widening disparity between U.S. imports and exports. The euro rose as high as $1.2907, and was at $1.2893 vs. $1.2855 late Thursday. The dollar also fell against the yen, moving to 109.67 yen from 110.19 yen. The trade gap in March is predicted t ...

The US decision to refrain from branding China a “currency manipulator” has given Beijing more flexibility to accelerate the introduction of a genuine forex trading market for the renminbi, Chinese economists said on Thursday. // Although economists remain divided about the pace at which the renminbi will appreciate this year, they said the US decision would bolster the substantial official constituency in Beijing favouring faster reform of the exchange rate system. The US Treasury, in a semi- ...

By Atul Prakash LONDON (Reuters) - Heavy speculative buying fuelled by inflation fears and geopolitical tensions propelled gold to its highest for 26 years and silver to a level not seen in 25 years, while platinum soared to a record peak. Analysts said the metals were overbought and saw a chance of brutal price falls, but bullish sentiment was underpinning the market. "We are in a long-term bull market for all commodities. I don't believe we are at the top by any means," said Richard Davis,  ...