Encourage More Selling Of Dollars

(Reuters) - The euro rose to a 10-week high against the dollar and its strongest since November versus the yen on Thursday after better-than-expected German data eased concerns about a bleak euro zone economic outlook. However, the conviction that Greece's latest bailout deal will not draw a line under it or the euro zone's debt crisis was expected to limit gains for the euro, meaning the currency may struggle to hold gains above $1.33. German business sentiment rose for a fourth month running in February, raising hopes that Europe's largest economy is improving and will avoid recession despite the problems facing indebted euro zone countries. But the single currency came off highs after the EU commission forecast the euro zone economy to contract by 0.3 percent in 2012. The euro was ...

(Reuters) - Gold fell from a 7-week high on Friday as speculators booked profits ahead of U.S. GDP data, but prices were heading for a fourth week of gains with the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep interest rates near zero for some time supporting sentiment. Although gold investors were relieved by the Fed's move to keep rates historically low, they will now turn their attention again to the outcome of the Greek debt crisis, with U.S. funds still cautious about lending to banks in the troubled euro zone. A Reuters poll showed gold's record-breaking rally of the last decade is set to extend into this year and the next as monetary policy stays loose and central banks build reserves. Gold hit a high around $1,723 an ounce before slipping to $1,718.70 by 2:10 a.m. ET, down $1.34. Gold ...

(Reuters) - Slightly better economic news from China and Europe countered concerns over the euro zone debt crisis on Tuesday, lifting European shares and the single currency, but Greek default fears and a looming debt sale by Spain held gains in check. U.S. stock index futures also pointed to a higher open on Wall Street after the holiday weekend with a number of top companies, including Citigroup Inc (C.N), due to report quarterly results. German investor sentiment posted its biggest ever monthly improvement in January, helped by recent upbeat data and hopes the European Central Bank's efforts to ease the region's debt problems. The German data followed earlier numbers from China showing a much-feared slowdown in the world's second-largest economy was not as great as some had expected ...

(Reuters) - Gold was set for its biggest one-day fall in three months on Monday, under pressure from a robust dollar, which in turn choked off demand from consumers in key regions such as India. Last week's summit of European Union leaders yielded a historic agreement on beefing up fiscal discipline in the 27-member bloc, but fell short of market expectations for a more drastic solution to the crisis. This lack of confidence in Europe pushed investors into the relative safety of the U.S. dollar, rather than gold, which has fallen by about 5 percent in the last week alone. A stronger dollar often encourages non-U.S. holders of gold to sell the metal to lock in a higher profit in their own currencies and in India, the world's largest consumer of bullion, this has kept jewelers and other ...

(Reuters) - Asian stocks gained on Monday after a deal that moves Europe closer to fiscal union encouraged investors to take on more risk, but the euro fell amid concerns the euro zone's fragile safety net is still insufficient to prevent its sovereign debt crisis from spreading. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose as much as 1.4 percent on Monday, after sliding as much as 2.8 percent on Friday for a weekly drop of 3.5 percent on concerns over the EU summit's outcome. Japan's Nikkei stock average .N225 gained 1.5 percent. Financial spreadbetters predicted Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE would open up around 0.2 percent. Asian credit markets firmed on weakening risk aversion, with spreads on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment grade index narrowing by 7 ...

Confidence down. Stocks downer. Gold downest. Gold, as Fellow Reckoners have no doubt observed, is off big time today. The Midas metal has tumbled almost $100 in the past 24 hours. As of this writing, an ounce trades for about $1,638…although that figure is likely to be outdated by the time you read this. For perspective, the $1,650 mark was celebrated as an all-time nominal high just a month and a half ago. What a change six weeks can make. Stocks, similarly, are suffering. The Dow has shed almost 800 points this week; 650 of them since B.S. Bernanke and the Fed announced its Operation Twist program a couple of days ago. So, what’s happened? It’s more of the same from the Fed, right? Why the long face? Was it because it wasn’t enough of more of the same? “The stock market threw a ...

(Reuters) - Those expecting Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to pull a rabbit from his hat at a retreat for central bankers here on Friday may be in for a letdown. His opening remarks at 8 a.m. local time, (10 a.m. EDT) will be widely watched by financial markets hoping for some indication the U.S. central bank is prepared to step in to support an economic recovery that could be stalling. Bernanke, however, is unlikely to announce a third round of Fed bond buying. The Fed has already bought $2.3 trillion in longer-term securities -- a policy known as quantitative easing. Its most recent program, dubbed QE2, ended in June. But he is likely to acknowledge the economy's strains and may show a willingness to take other, relatively modest, steps to shore up the recovery. "If people in ...

The dollar rose on Thursday and stocks slumped as investors shied away from risky trades amid speculation that Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke will not hint at new plans to stimulate the economy this week. Talk that Germany might follow other European countries by banning short-selling also pushed the euro lower, erasing gains seen after news that Berkshire Hathaway would invest $5 billion in Bank of America. Though a German Finance Ministry spokesman said there were no plans to ban short-selling, the damage to European stocks had been done, and that rippled through U.S. markets. The dollar tends to rise when markets grow nervous because investors cut trades funded with the U.S. currency. Low U.S. interest rates let investors borrow dollars at almost no cost. Fading expectations of ...

(Reuters) - The dollar rose on Thursday and stocks slumped as investors shied away from risky trades amid speculation that Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke will not hint at new plans to stimulate the economy this week. Talk that Germany might follow other European countries by banning short-selling also pushed the euro lower, erasing gains seen after news that Berkshire Hathaway would invest $5 billion in Bank of America. Though a German Finance Ministry spokesman said the country was not planning a short-selling ban, the damage to European stocks had been done, and that rippled through U.S. markets. The dollar tends to rise when markets grow nervous because investors cut trades funded with the U.S. currency. Low U.S. interest rates let investors borrow dollars at almost no cost. ...