Gold rose over the $1,300 an ounce mark before the Fed's two-day meeting amid tensions in Ukraine and Gaza. Immediate delivery rose 0.3% to 1,308.06 an ounce and reached $1,312.27, the highest price since July 22. Geopolitical tensions should not boost demand significantly for the safe haven as market participants are waiting for the outcome of the meeting.
South Korea's Won grew as exporters converted their overseas gains and the BoK reported current year's second-largest account-surplus. The Won appreciated 0.2% to 1,024.50 per dollar. Overseas sales and shipments from abroad are expected to rise in July from the previous year. The exports likely grew around 3.8%, whereas the imports climbed 1.5%.
U.S. economic growth gained in momentum in the second quarter of the year after the fall in the beginning of the year and is expected to rise through the rest of the fiscal year. GDP increased at 3% annual rate, according to the Reuters survey, caused by both consumer expenditure and stock retaining by businesses. The growth for the year as a whole is projected to
Retail sales in Japan fell more than expected in June, pressuring Shinzo Abe to create a heavier taxation on consumers in order to reflate the economy. Sales declined 0.6% from the previous year, opposed to the forecast of 0.5%. In the second quarter, sales went down 7% from the last three months.
The Texas light sweet declined for the second day in a row as supply data looms near. With the data possibly signalling changes in the US fuel demand the September WTI futures fell 36 cents and were trading at $101.31 a barrel on the NYMEX. Meanwhile, the Brent for the same month delivery only lost one cent and was at $107.56 a barrel.
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.