The job availability in Japan reached its peak in 22 years last month following the growth in companies' confidence about hiring. The job-to-applicants ratio jumped to 1.10 in June from 1.09 in May. The unemployment rate unexpectedly grew to 3.7% in June from 3.5% in the previous month. The officials expect the economic recovery to continue in the third quarter without additional measures from the BoJ.
Argentine bonds went down for a monthly low as the country rejects talks with its creditors, which may cause Argentina to default on its payments again since 2001. 10-year bonds fell 2.23% to 81.99 U.S. cents, the lowest since June 20. Yields went up 0.36 percentage points to 10.77%.
UBS AG, the largest bank in Switzerland, announced a 15% increase in profit for the second quarter of this year, beating analysts' expectations. Net revenue picked up to 792 million francs versus 690 million francs in Q2 2013. During the last year, costs of the bank were decreased by 2.1 billion francs. Today, UBS AG shares are dropping 0.8% to
The Greenback reached the weakest level in two weeks against the Euro reflecting the failure of the U.S. economy to rebound in the second quarter to the extent the investors projected. The Dollar depreciated 0.1% to $1.3440 per Euro, the bottom line since July 14th. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index remained little changed at 1,014.17 from the end of the previous week.
Although Australian home sales in June rose by 1.2%, the Aussie remained steady versus the Dollar as the upcoming US events keep supporting the greenback. The pair hit 0.9390 during the Asian session and proceeded to consolidate at 0.9399. The data revealed that home sales climbed 1.2% after a 4.3% decrease in May.
During the Asian session, the greenback climbed to its highest price in three weeks against the Yen, sustained by strength in the Nikkei index. The US Dollar rose against both the Euro and the Yen, trading at 1.3432 and 101.98 respectively. However, traders were hesitant as the forthcoming major events are expected to have a high impact.
Asian stocks were up for the day and sent the benchmark of the regional index to its highest in six years. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose by 0.3% and the HSI reached its highest levels since November 2010. As there are holidays in South-East Asian countries and India the markets there were closed and there were no new developments in those regions.
Contrary to expectations of a 0.5% climb in pending home sales, the number of new contracts signed by homebuyers turned out to be disappointing, as the data revealed a 1.1% drop. On a year-on-year basis, pending home sales dropped by 4.5%. Limited access to credit and the slower growth of wages are restraining potential homebuyers, causing the housing recovery to
Analysts had forecast a drop in flash services PMI to 59.8. However, the release revealed that the activity in the services sector did not change, remaining at 61.0. On the other hand, analysts had forecast the non-manufacturing sector to remain unchanged, though the data turned out as a reduction from 56.3 to 56.0. The final release for services PMI is
This week there will be more than forty eight hours of powerful data releases in the United States. Starting on Wednesday, data concerning the GDP for the second quarter of the year is due to be published, as well as a statement from the FOMC. On Thursday the most relevant event should be Unemployment Claims. Adding to this, high impact
The Aussie held steady against the Greenback in light trade today, as strong U.S. long-lived commodities data kept on supporting the demand for the U.S. Dollar. The Australian Dollar reached a one-week low, sliding down to 0.9385 U.S. Afterwards the pair consolidated at 0.9390. The Commerce Department announced 0.7% growth in orders of durable goods as compared to the projections of 0.5%.
The Cable is close to its lowest price in one month and remains stable. Concerns regarding the conflict in Gaza and tension in Ukraine along with positive US data on Friday persist to support the US Dollar. This morning, the Sterling hit 1.6985 against the greenback and proceeded to consolidate at 1.6979.
The Yen rose in early Asian trade as events in Ukraine and Middle East made investors look in the safe haven's direction. With the US failing to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the Ukrainian government regaining control of a separatist stronghold the USD/JPY pair was down 0.04% and was trading at 101.79.
American 30-year yields were near a 13-month low on speculation that a report at the end of the week will display that wage growth meets expectations as employment goes up. The 30-year yield remained at 3.25% after falling to 3.235%, the lowest since June 2013. The gap between five and 30-year yields decreased to 156 basis points, the smallest since January 2009.
As the positive data regarding US durable goods for June supported the US Dollar, the Kiwi dropped to its lowest price in one and a half months. The New Zealand Dollar decreased to 0.8534 against the Greenback and proceeded to consolidate at 0.8539, representing a 0.19% slide. Last week's rise in interest rate to 3.5% by the RBNZ also pressured
The Greenback stiffened around six-month highs against the major counterparts following substantial gains made during the previous week as investors turned bearish on the Euro. The reports are expected to reveal the economy rose at the 3.2% annual pace in the second quarter, after it fell 2.9% in the first quarter. The unemployment rate by-turn is estimated to remain steady at 6.1%.
The greenback remains flat as important data is to be released later this week, such as FOMC meeting, US jobs and GDP data. This caused the Dollar to stay almost unchanged, with an almost insignificant drop to 101.81 from Friday's 101.83 against the Yen. The common currency decreased marginally from 1.3429 to 1.3428 versus the US Dollar.
HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia are being accused of price rigging in the silver market according to a US lawsuit. The Bank of Nova Scotia has stated that it will defend itself with the other two declining comment. Even though Barclays was fined $44m this year for attempts to fix the gold price, there seems to be little evidence from US regulators
Germany is to turn down a multi-billion free trade contract between the EU and Canada, which is to the great extent seen as the basis for the bigger agreement with the U.S. The German diplomats believe the government could not negotiate the agreement with Canada on current terms. The deal with Canada could raise the bilateral trade by a fifth to 26 billion Euros a year.
WTI fell for the fourth consecutive time during the last five days from speculation that U.S. economic data may show weakened growth. WTI slid 1% during the previous week after the release of data showing increased gasoline stockpiles. September futures went down 59 cents to $101.50 per barell, while the trading volume was 16% under the 100-day average.
Asian stocks were around three-year highs as China's industrial firms showed a substantial increase in profits. Year-on-year the profits earned were up 17.9% in June in stark contrast to the 8.9% in May. This has given further confirmation that the growth supporting stimulus measures have given the Chinese economy a much needed push.
The Dollar was traded near the most in eight months versus the Euro as investors bet it will rise to levels last seen in November 2012. The nation's currency maintained its biggest weekly gain since March versus its major peers. USD/EUR was traded at $1.3429, which was little changed from July 25, then it changed to $1.3422, the strongest since
The Canadian Dollar dropped to the weakest level in five weeks before the reports that are projected to indicate Canada's economy is way behind that of U.S. The Loonie slipped 0.6% to C$1.0812 per U.S. Dollar. The currency depreciated against the Greenback for a second day in a row, falling against all of the 16 major counterparts.
Gold net-long positions increased by 3.1% last week as hedge funds are eyeing a rally. Nonetheless, towards the end of the week prices fell due to a 19% lower demand from China and a positive outlook for the US economy, which overshadowed distress in Ukraine. The price of gold is expected to average over $1,300 during the year with inflation being a possible risk.