Added To The Dollar's Strength

(Reuters) - The dollar fell to multi-week lows against the euro and the yen on Friday after a report showed U.S. economic growth cooled in the first quarter, raising the prospect of further stimulus from the Federal Reserve. The weaker-than-expected growth showed businesses cut back on investment and restocked shelves at a moderate pace at a time when investors are worried that lack of job creation will stem consumer spending. The euro was already higher after a smooth Italian bond auction eased concerns over peripheral euro-zone debt markets and offset jitters sparked by a downgrade of Spain's sovereign debt and dismal Spanish economic data. The U.S. economic data added to the dollar's woes, sending it to its lowest since mid-April against the yen. "GDP was worse-than-expected, and ...

(Reuters) - Asian shares and the euro fell on Monday as a surge in Spanish government bond yields renewed concerns about Europe's sovereign debt crisis and undermined investor appetite for riskier assets. China's yuan weakened after the central bank doubled the size of the currency's trading band over the weekend, a crucial reform in the process of liberalizing the country's nascent financial markets. A firmer dollar on the back of the euro zone's woes, and worries about slowing demand from China, also weighed on a broad range of commodities from precious metals and copper to oil. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.8 percent, dragged lower by the materials sector .MIAPJMT00PUS, which underperformed other sub-indexes with the broad drop in ...

Fears about Spain's high debt level pushed the euro down broadly on Thursday to its lowest level against the dollar in three weeks and prompting the Swiss National Bank to take action to curb the franc's strength. The euro fell for a fourth straight day against the greenback as a jump in Spain's borrowing costs made investors nervous about the country's ability to meet budget targets that could mark another escalation of the euro-zone debt crisis. With the euro zone engulfed in a debt crisis, the European Central Bank's policy should remain accommodative, with dovish comments by ECB president Draghi on Wednesday affirming that notion. That contrasts with the U.S. Federal Reserve, which this week downplayed expectations of adding more stimulus. As the U.S. economy improves, U.S. short ...

Gold prices fell on Wednesday, unwinding the previous day's advance to a two-week peak, after data showing weaker-than-expected U.S. manufactured goods orders and cautious comments from an ECB official spurred a flurry of selling. Bullion lost ground with base metals, crude oil, equities and the euro after the report showing a moderate, though disappointing, gain in February U.S. durable goods orders ignited selling. "There's some dollar strength, it's also a risk-off kind of a day. We're seeing a lot of commodities down and stocks are down," said Rick Bensignor, chief market strategist at Merlin Securities in New York. Spot gold was down 1.3 percent at $1,658.30 an ounce by 2:50 p.m. EDT (1850 GMT), after hitting its lowest since March 23 at $1,654.50 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for ...

(Reuters) - Asian shares steadied on Friday while the dollar took a breather after its recent broad rally spurred profit-taking, with some investors wondering if a fresh batch of encouraging economic data would put further upward pressure on U.S. yields. Financial spread bets are for major European markets .FTSE .FCHI .GDAXI to open flat to 0.1 percent higher. .L .EU The MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan index .MIAPJ0000PUS was barely changed, set for a weekly gain of 0.8 percent. The index has risen 13.6 percent so far this year, recovering three-quarters of an 18 percent loss posted last year. Japan's Nikkei .N225 steadied and held near an 8-month high reached on Thursday. The benchmark is up nearly 20 percent this year, reclaiming all of last year's 17 percent drop. .T Analysts say the ...

The dollar reached an 11-month high against the yen and a one-month high against the euro on Wednesday in a continued afterglow after the Federal Reserve on Tuesday upgraded its economic outlook amid a string of U.S. data indicating a sustainable recovery. A rise in the yield on U.S. two-year Treasury to around a 7-1/2-month high was making the dollar more attractive as a buy-and-hold asset instead of as a currency to fund investments in higher-yielding assets elsewhere. A 1.1 percent rise in U.S. retail sales in February reported on Tuesday added to signs of a pickup in the world's largest economy and followed an encouraging monthly jobs report last week, the third in a row. Acknowledging the trend, the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee on Tuesday slightly upgraded its ...

The U.S. dollar advanced against majors on Wednesday trading after Fed upbeat announcements. The green currency rose for the second day after the Fed raised growth projections for the U.S. economy, thereby damping speculations the Fed may add to stimulus. The Fed predicts a “moderate economic growth” gradual decline in joblessness as the labor market strengthens. Yesterday, U.S. retail sales jumped 1.1% last month, marking the highest rise in five months, from 0.6% surge in January, while last week, non-farm payrolls report showed that the world's largest economy added 227,000 jobs last month, from the upwardly revised 284,000 jobs a month earlier. The U.S. dollar is moving around 80.20 after opening today's trades at 80.12, according to the dollar index which tracks the dollar's ...

(Reuters) - The dollar hit an 11-month high against the yen and one-month high versus the euro on Wednesday and more gains were expected after an upgraded Federal Reserve economic outlook and firmer U.S. data dented the greenback's appeal as a funding currency. U.S. two-year Treasury yields reached a 7-1/2-month high after solid retail sales data on Tuesday, making the dollar less attractive to fund investments in higher-yielding assets. These factors pushed the dollar to a peak of 83.56 yen in European trade, its highest since mid-April. Traders said Japanese exporters were reluctant to sell the dollar and anticipated further strength. Last year's high of 85.53 yen was seen as important resistance. The euro struggled against the dollar, falling to a one-month low of $1.30308 on trading ...

Platinum rallied for a fifth day in a row on Tuesday, its longest streak of gains since October, to push the price above that of gold for the first time in six months, while gold fell below $1,700 an ounce before a U.S. rate decision. The price of platinum has gained more than 20 percent so far this year, propelled by supply disruptions in South Africa, the world's largest producer, where safety stoppages and illegal strike action at a major mine have eroded output. Spot platinum was bid at $1,689.74 an ounce by 1250 GMT, up 0.1 percent on the day. "We have been ragingly bullish on platinum this year. We perhaps got in a tiny bit too early, but this is one we have been plugging very strongly," Nic Brown, head of commodity strategy at Natixis said. Spot gold was bid at $1,686.30 an ...