Briefly Saw The Euro

(Reuters) - Gold managed to recover most of the ground it lost in a brutal sell-off earlier on Wednesday even as sentiment and the euro remained fragile as European leaders met to discuss the deepening euro-zone debt crisis. Gold tested key support levels for a second time in a week as a wave of selling hit commodities, the euro and equities, before bouncing off those lows in New York afternoon trading. Money had piled into bonds and the dollar, assets considered low risk, on Wednesday ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders later in the day. The leaders are expected to discuss growth-boosting measures and the idea of a joint euro zone bond. Spot gold prices dropped as low as $1,534.25 an ounce, down over 2 percent, as the euro slumped to its weakest against the dollar in nearly ...

The euro slipped to a four-month low against the dollar on Tuesday as a political stalemate in Greece stoked fear the country may renege on bailout pledges made to international creditors and exit the currency bloc. Concerns about slowing Chinese and global growth also drove down higher-yielding currencies and boosted the safe-haven dollar and yen, with the Australian dollar flirting with a five-month low against the U.S. currency. Greek Party leaders are expected to convene at 2 p.m. (1100 GMT) but there is little hope President Karolos Papoulias's proposal to form a technocrat government would end the stalemate, making a new election the most likely outcome. Many market players think a fresh election will make it more likely for Athens to ditch its bailout pledges and hence the euro, ...

(Reuters) - Gold slipped more than half a percent on Friday, tracking equities lower, as investors failed to shake off worries about Europe's debt crisis and its impact on global economic growth. Gold, though traditionally seen as a safe haven, bore the brunt of the sell-offs across risk assets such as equities, industrial metals and oil this week, forcing investors and speculators to sell bullion to cover losses in other markets. Gold eased $7.87 to $1,585.86 an ounce by 01:08 a.m. EDT (0508 GMT) after shares in Asia were hit by JPMorgan's (JPM.N) $2 billion loss from a failed hedging strategy and by political turmoil in the euro zone. It is poised to fall by more than 3 percent this week, its deepest drop since early March. "We are still uncertain about what's happening out of the ...

(Reuters) - Shares, precious metals and oil fell and the euro remained pressured on Wednesday as Greece struggled to form a government after an election that saw incumbent parties punished, heightening the risk that a hard-won bailout deal could be scrapped. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS shed 1.4 percent to its lowest in more than three months, with energy .MIAPJEN00PUS, materials .MIAPJMT00PUS and growth sensitive industrials .MIAPJIN00PUS leading the declines. Resources-heavy Australian shares .AXJO plunged 1 percent to a three-week low as oil, precious metals and copper slid. European shares will likely edge up after a mauling on Tuesday, with financial spreadbetters predicting that major European markets .FTSE .FCHI .GDAXI would open 0.6 ...

(Reuters) - Gold fell on Tuesday, snapping a five-day winning streak as better-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data further diminished chances of additional U.S. monetary easing and the precious metal's investment appeal. With most markets in Europe and several major Asian markets closed for the May Day holiday, investors shifted their attention to the Institute for Supply Management's April index of U.S. factory activity, which rose to 54.8, the strongest in 10 months, from 53.4 in March. The metal has lost $125 since Feb 28 after a strong run of U.S. economic indicators dashed hopes of Fed easing that could have provided an underpinning for gold. It posted a small loss in April which marked the first time since 2000 it fell three months in a row. Gold is still up 6 percent year to ...

(Reuters) - Global shares edged lower on Monday, heading for their first monthly loss this year as Spain sank into recession and the U.S. economy showed signs of slowing. Treasury prices rose, while the euro fell and the dollar slipped to a more than two-month low against the yen as anxiety over economies on both sides of the Atlantic led investors to favor lower-risk investments over stocks and other risky assets. Spain, the euro zone's fourth-largest economy, slipped into recession in the first quarter as domestic demand fell, joining Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Belgium and the Netherlands on the list of countries with shrinking economies. In the United States, consumers boosted spending only modestly last month and a gauge of Midwestern business activity fell sharply in April, ...

Global shares jumped on Wednesday after stellar earnings from Apple Inc bolstered optimism over corporate earnings and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank was prepared to do more to aid the U.S. economy if necessary. The dollar slipped and U.S. stocks extended gains in late trade after Bernanke said the Fed "would not hesitate" to launch another round of bond purchases to drive borrowing costs lower, though he made no suggestion further support was in the works. Bernanke's news conference following the Fed's latest policy meeting capped a see-saw session. Earlier, the Fed reiterated its expectation that interest rates would not rise until late 2014 at the earliest, a statement that briefly drove bond yields up and led gold to sell off before recovering. The broad ...

(Reuters) - Solid demand at Spain's bond sale on Thursday briefly lifted the euro and European shares, but the gains were curbed due to wider concerns over the government's ability to tackle a ballooning deficit as its economy shrinks. Spain's Treasury issued the full 2.5 billion euros ($3.3 billion) of two- and 10-year bonds it planned at the auction but was forced to pay more for the longer-dated paper than at a previous sale in January, suggesting that investors were not convinced by the government's spending cuts and reforms. "The bigger story for Spain remains one of fiscal position and growth," said Nick Stamenkovic, bond strategist at RIA Capital Markets. "Until we see signs that the government is implementing the medium-term fiscal consolidation program and signs of life in the ...

(Reuters) - The yen inched lower on Thursday after commodity currencies briefly shot up on hopes China will soon ease policy, and as flows from Japanese importers and 'toushin' investment trusts pressured it against the U.S. dollar, traders said. The euro is set to come under fresh pressure and test its long-standing support at $1.30 later in the session as Spain tests investors' confidence in its debt-ridden economy when it tries to sell new two- and 10-year bonds. The dollar rose 0.2 percent to 81.38 yen, near its highest level in about 10 days, with traders citing flows related to a launch of a large toushin by a Japan investment bank. "The dollar was pushed towards 80 yen this week, but its solid rebound well above 81 yen underscores its underlying strength making it hard for ...