Curbed Economic Growth

The euro held above a four-month low on Tuesday after German economic growth beat expectations, although gains could prove fleeting as the political stalemate in Greece stokes fears that Athens may renege on bailout pledges and exit the currency bloc. European powerhouse Germany saw its economy expand in the first quarter at a robust clip of 0.5 percent, shaking off any fears of a recession. But a survey of German analyst and investor sentiment fell sharply in May, while GDP in France flatlined and Italy contracted sharply. Overall, much of the euro zone was still struggling with a slowdown, putting pressure on the European Central Bank to loosen monetary policy to support the economy. That is likely to see bears take a stronger grip of the euro. Also, concerns about slowing Chinese and ...

(Reuters) - The euro wallowed near a 3 1/2-month low against the dollar on Thursday as political deadlock in Greece threatens its rescue deal and raises the spectre of the country risking insolvency and leaving the euro zone. Worries that the euro zone could plunge back into a debt crisis, after a semblance of stability in the past few months, were also supporting the yen near a three-month high. "Uncertainty over Greece is going to weigh on markets," said Sumino Kamei, senior currency analyst at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. "There's now open talk about Greece's exit from the euro. The euro is likely to have moved into a new range below $1.30." The euro fell as low as $1.29115 on Wednesday, the lowest since Jan 23. It last stood at $1.2947, with next possible support seen around $ ...

Dukascopy Fundamental Analysis EUR European stocks dropped for a second day, to the lowest level in almost four months, as investors awaited a resolution to the political impasse in Greece and as Spanish credit risk surged. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) lost 1.1 percent to 247.75 at 2:15 p.m. in London, the lowest since Jan. 13, as the euro weakened for an eighth day. The Stoxx 600 has tumbled 9 percent from this year’s high on March 16, trimming this year’s advance to 1.3 percent. USD U.S. stock futures retreated, indicating the Dow Jones Industrial Average will drop for a sixth straight day, as Greece’s political impasse intensified concern about a worsening of the European sovereign-debt crisis. GBP U.K. retail sales fell the most in more than a year last month as poor weather ...

(Reuters) - Gold fell on Friday and was on track for its biggest weekly drop in a month, reflecting caution among investors ahead of a key U.S. payrolls report after a slew of weak economic data drove bullion down in the last three sessions. But a weaker-than-expected gain in the widely-watched U.S. jobs data could hit the dollar by raising expectations of a third round of quantitative easing, boosting gold. The non-farm payrolls report is expected to show a gain of 170,000 in April, according to a Reuters poll of economists, but investors are braced for lackluster job growth last month following a trail of weak U.S. indicators. Gold eased $1.60 an ounce to $1,634.60 by 2.18 a.m. EDT (0618 GMT), having dropped on Thursday to its lowest since April 25 at $1,630.70 after U.S. data showed ...

Another week is to end today, while markets are fluctuating heavily with the start of the final session, where markets are waiting services data from the euro zone for more confirmations whether the region is slipping into another phase of recession, ahead of the closely watched jobs report from the world's largest economy. The European common currency as seen yesterday was able to recover most of the losses incurred earlier, where after the European Central Bank rate decision and Draghi's press conference the euro rebounded supported by the downbeat services data from the world's largest economy, which sent the dollar south supporting high yielding currencies to rebound. Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank President, reassured yesterday that downside risks to growth remain evident, ...

The Reserve Bank of Australia has announced the results of its meeting that was held today, where the bank downgraded the economic growth forecasts for the current year as weak labor market during the first quarter, beside drop in the inflation rates, supported the bank to cut the interest rates by 50 basis points to 3.75% in May. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) acknowledged that many parts of the economy were struggling with a high local dollar and weak consumer demand, although it remained upbeat about the mining sector. Moreover, the nation has released many economic indicators for March quarter that suggests that the economy grew at a modest pace. Measures of business and consumer sentiment are slightly below, long-run average levels, while indicators of future building activity ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR German jobless rate unexpectedly climbed first time in last six months as debt turmoil curbed economic growth. The number of unemployed people increased by 19 000, reaching 2.87 million, compared to an expected drop by 10 000 people. The adjusted unemployment rate was 6.8%. USD Mitt Romney announced that Yuan's 23% appreciation versus U.S. Dollar in last five years is not enough and branded world's second largest economy as currency manipulator. Romney promised in his campaigns to put more pressure on China as he claimed Obama hasn't done enough to boost stronger Yuan. Economists questioned by Bloomberg expected Yuan to climb versus greenback to CHY 6.15 by the end of 2012. GBP FTSE 100 index traded lower on Wednesday as record high unemployment level and ...

The Reserve Bank of Australia unexpectedly cut the interest rate by 50 basis points for first time during the year as inflation rates curbed, and the Australian government wants to give momentum to support the recovery in the nation amid the European crisis impact. The Reserve bank of Australia decided today to decline the interest rate by half a percentage point during May from 4.25 to 3.75%., lower than expected. This decision is based on information received over the past few months that suggests that economic conditions have been somewhat weaker than expected, while inflation has moderated. We can see that the economic condition in Australia has moved in narrow range, where output growth was somewhat below trend over the past year, notwithstanding that growth in domestic demand ran ...

(Reuters) - Gold rose for a fourth consecutive session on Friday and posted its biggest weekly gain since late February, as disappointing U.S. growth and European debt jitters boosted investment demand for the precious metal. Bullion buying accelerated after a report showed U.S. economic growth cooled in the first quarter as businesses cut back on investment. Some safe-haven demand also supported prices after a credit downgrade of Spain's sovereign debt by Standard & Poor's. Gold's four-day rise was underpinned by option-related buying and after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the U.S. central bank would not hesitate to launch another round of bond purchases to boost growth if necessary. "The GDP data may confirm ongoing stimulatory U.S. monetary policies, which ...