Amid Strengthening Dollar

Precious-Gold showed a slight decline on Friday early trading after recording the highest one-day rise in more than three months on Thursday`s session amid escalating tensions from the euro area. In the previous session, the yellow metal managed to advance more than 2% as investors decided the metal after the drop to four and a half month low on hopes there will be a rebound. Indeed, the shiny metal did an upside correction as momentum indicators signaled the metal was oversold. Gold is currently trading around $1571.88 an ounce after recording a high of $1576.53 and a low of $1567.85, where the shiny metal found support at $1520 levels. However, mounting worries from the euro area are expected to put the shiny metal under pressure to record the third consecutive weekly drop ...

Taking a general look at markets before the end of this week, we can see that the bearishness started to lose momentum as traders are speculating now what tools Central Banks might provide to revive the slowing pace of recovery, especially the European Central Bank amid the current political instability in Greece, the confirmed recession in Spain and Italy and the deepening debt crisis. Moreover, investors are still worried and concerned regarding the general trend in markets, where after the Federal Reserve reassured that a slowing recovery in the U.S. might trigger another round of quantitative easing, volatility dominated markets as predicting the coming moves became highly uncertain as Politicians failed to calm markets and the fueled debt crisis, leaving policymakers with a difficult ...

Japanese economy grew more than expected during the first quarter, where Japan’s GDP showed unexpected growth supported by the reconstruction from last year’s earthquake that boosted public investment as well as consumer spending. Japan’s GDP grew more than expected during the first quarter of year, where it recorded actual of 1.0% compared with a previous of -0.2% revised to 0.0%, while the expectations were 0.9%. While annualized GDP in first quarter inclined actual of 4.1% compared with a previous of -0.7% revised to 0.1%, while expectations were 3.5%. The strength of Japanese yen against the dollar since March may increase pressure on monetary policy makers of the Bank of Japan to add stimulus especially after the unexpected growth that the nation is witnessing. Yesterday, Japan’s ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR " show that despite the crisis in the euro area, Germany is growing and benefiting from a revival in international trade." - Klaus Baader, senior economist at Societe Generale SA German factory orders rose by more than forecast in March, a sign Europe’s largest economy is weathering the debt crisis. USD "From where we sit right now, we think the economy looks fundamentally stronger." - Marisa Di Natale, an economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester U.S. stocks closed mixed on Monday after Francois Hollande was elected as a French president and Greek voters turned to antibailout parties. GBP "… the challenging economic backdrop suggests that a significant acceleration in prices or activity is unlikely in the near term." - Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "The likelihood of inflation falling below 2 percent in the short run remains low, putting the ECB in a difficult situation." - Peter Vanden Houte, an economist at ING Inflation in the euro zone rose by more than expected in April, mounting pressure on the European Central Bank to take action against price pressures. USD "Manufacturing is still in pretty good shape." - Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc. Manufacturing in the U.S. expanded in April at the fastest pace in 10 months, showed Institute for Supply Management data on Tuesday. GBP "The good news is that manufacturing clocked up a fifth straight rise, whilst cost pressures have eased a little and some firms are still recruiting." - Lee Hopley, chief economist at EEF U.K. ...

The US dollar tumbled vs. its major currency rivals throughout yesterday's trading session, following the most recent economic predictions from the Fed which stated that a new round of quantitative easing could be initiated if US unemployment does not drop further. The EUR/USD shot up to a three-week high as a result of the news, reaching as high as 1.3262. Today, traders will want to pay attention to the US Advance GDP figure, set to be released at 12:30 GMT. A better than expected figure could help the USD rebound vs. riskier currencies, like the euro and AUD. Economic News USD - US GDP Figure May Help Dollar Recover Losses The US dollar fell vs. several of its main currency rivals yesterday, including the euro and British pound. Investors began shifting their funds away from the ...

(Reuters) - The dollar slipped against the euro ahead of the release of U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes on Tuesday, though investors were reluctant to make big bets a day ahead of the European Central Bank meeting. At least for the next few hours, the market focus in pre-Easter trade remains the Fed's meeting minutes from March which may provide clues on U.S. policymakers' inclination to take further steps to ease policy, which would weigh on the dollar. For now, the minutes are expected to suggest a standby approach, with the Fed likely to warn that premature tightening would be risky, while keeping an open-minded, but uncommitted view on further easing. Fed officials on Monday signaled little appetite for further monetary steps to stimulate U.S. growth in an economy that is ...

Technical Analysis EUR/USD "Raising the size of the euro zone bailout fund will be supportive for the euro, although the market is already aware of it" - JP Morgan Private Bank (based on CNBC) Rally of EUR/USD is unlikely to appear on the chart on the occasion of the fact that a number of significant resistances are located in close proximity of the current price - 1.3379, 1.3435 and 1.3487. EUR/JPY "The worse-than-expected Tankan survey seems to be fueling talk that the BOJ will ease policy further" - Forecast Pte (based on Bloomberg) Despite a recent failure of EUR/JPY to overcome resistance at 111.57, the currency couple is anticipated to make another attempt to breach it. GBP/USD "The expectation from the OECD that the UK is about to fall into another recession makes quantitative ...

Fundamental news Today’s highlights: · Core PCE Price Index + Personal Spending (MoM) (U.S, 12:30 GMT) · Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (U.S, 13:55 GMT) · Chicago PMI (U.S, 13:45 GMT) · CPI (YoY) (EUR, 09:00 GMT) The U.S. Initial jobless claims fell 5,000 in the week ended March 24 to 359,000, the lowest since April 2008, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. Adding to evidence labor market is strengthening. In addition, the economy in the U.S. grew at a 3 percent annual rate in the last three months of 2011, the same as previously estimated, while corporate profits climbed at the slowest pace in three years, raising the risk that business investment and hiring will cool. Economic recovery in G7 countries remains fragile despite some ...