Aaa Countries In The Eurozone

Euro is mostly rangebound today, making small gains against the US dollar, after a Dutch bond auction proved reasonably successful. The euro has been struggling lately due to concerns about the political stability of eurozone countries, as well as continued worries about Spain. Earlier, a bond auction in the Netherlands was deemed a success. There had been some questions about the bond auction, since the resignation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the collapse of the Dutch government. With politicians unable to agree on budgetary measures, the government is at an impasse and an early general election looks like it will be called. The bond auction out of the Netherlands, though, is steadying the euro somewhat in Forex trading. It appears that the Netherlands is likely to maintain its AAA ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "We expect euro-zone gross domestic product to contract further in the first quarter of 2012 and very possibly in the second quarter as well" - Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight European exports rose for a third straight month in January, adding to signs the region is recovering after contraction in the fourth quarter. The 17-nation currency bloc posted a trade deficit of 7.6 billion euros in January, said the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat on Friday. USD "Consumers are pretty stretched at this point" - Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc U.S. industrial production was little changed in February, compared to the previous month, said the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. GBP "Both the systemic risk ...

Dukascopy Fundamental Analysis EUR European vehicle sales plunged in February driven by Peugeot Citroen, Fiat and Renault as region's consumers suspended large scale purchases amid economic uncertainty. February registrations dropped 9.2% on annual basis to 923,381 million cars, the fifth straight monthly drop. Deliveries in France tumbled 20% whereas sales in Italy plummeted 19%. BMW and Toyota forecast a 5% decline in Europe region for 2012. USD Analysts predict that Apple share price may climb even 19% or above USD 700 a share on the issue of new iPAD. Morgan Stanley's analyst Katy Huberty already has increased company's stock price tagets above USD 700. The mean price target among analysts questioned by Bloomberg equals USD 605. Apple rallied 3.8% to USD 589.58 on Wednesday trade ...

The US dollar has been rallying strongly for several months. That’s what we call a “gift horse.” And just as the saying goes, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Instead, look for ways to exchange your strong dollars for other currencies and investable assets that don’t fly out of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s printing press. For many Americans, foreign investments are more of an accident than an objective. They might own a few foreign stocks through a global mutual fund. Or they might have some exposure to foreign economies and currencies through the shares of an American multinational corporation like Johnson & Johnson or GE. But American stocks and bonds remain the steak and potatoes of traditional American investment portfolios. Foreign stocks and bonds are merely the ...

Fundamental News: Today’s highlights: Existing Home Sales (U.S, 15:00 GMT) MPC Meeting Minutes (GB, 09:30 GMT) French Manufacturing PMI (FRA, 08:00 GMT) German Manufacturing PMI (GER, 08:30GMT) Canadian retail sales edged down in December, in line with estimates. After rising for the past four consecutive months, retail sales eased 0.2 percent in December mainly on lower fuel sales, Statistics Canada said today. China's factory activity shrank for a fourth consecutive month in February, as weak domestic demand as well as external weakness added downside risks to growth, a survey by Markit Economics revealed Wednesday. The rate of contraction in the manufacturing activity, however, eased with the HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index rising to a four- ...

Fundamental News: Today’s highlights: German ZEW Economic Sentiment (GER, 09:00 GMT) BOE Inflation Letter (GB, Tentative) Retail Sales (MoM) (U.S 13:30 GMT) Moody's Investors Service downgraded the ratings on six Eurozone countries, mainly citing the uncertainty over the euro area's prospects for institutional reform of its fiscal and economic framework. Italian debt rating was downgraded to A3 from A2, while Malta too was cut to A3 from A2. Spain saw its rating falling to A3 from A1. The ratings on Portugal were lowered to Ba3 from Ba2. Slovakia and Slovenia have their ratings cut to A2 from A1. Furthermore, the outlook on the AAA ratings of France, Austria and the United Kingdom was changed to 'negative'. Moody's said the increased uncertainty regarding the pace of ...

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK at 0800 GMT (EDT +0400) USD Radio silence out of Europe has kept investors in wait-and-see mode for yet another overnight session. However, interest in USDJPY is intensifying given the pair is hovering above key levels and US payrolls is just hours away. As far as economic data goes, the yen shows greatest sensitivity to the US employment situation, and a weak report later would likely give the yen another push higher. Extremely weak data might even be enough to trigger a round of intervention on Monday, and Japan Finance Minister Azumi’s comments overnight reinforce this view. He complained that the latest yen moves were “one-sided”, and said the price action was increasingly driven by speculation. This represents a moderate hardening of rhetoric – a step which ...

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK at 0800 GMT (EDT +0400) USD Both the AUD and NZD fell after disappointing domestic data releases. Unusually, the euro carried on regardless and further consolidated its recent gains. The possibility of a deal between Greece and private sector bond holders appears to be growing, according to the Financial Times. Our house view that coercive measures may be needed further down the line remains unchanged. The news comes on the back of the IMF’s proposal for a fresh $500bn funding call, which would be a significant boost to the funds’ resources. Whether Largarde’s call for new one-off contributions obtains much buy-in from non-Eurozone nations remains to be seen, but the momentum clearly matters for risk and the euro. EURUSD traded 1.2835-1.2879 and USDJPY 76.69-76.85 ...

Sacré bleu!… Last Friday, the French gained yet one more reason to grumble — over their midday galettes and Gauloises — about those annoying Americans. Standard & Poor’s, the American ratings agency, downgraded the French government’s credit rating from AAA to AA+. “AA+ is also not a bad rating,” reassured German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The French were not so eager to agree with Merkel’s patronizing assessment…and neither were any of the other nine Eurozone governments that received a rap across the knuckles from S&P. Although Finland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg still hung onto their AAA ratings, S&P placed these three sovereign issuers on “negative watch.” They were the lucky ones. Austria lost its triple-A rating, while Cyprus, Italy, Portugal and Spain were all cut by two ...