Traders Are Increasingly Anxious

(Reuters) - The U.S. natural gas market's rally last week, its biggest this year, may have less to do with an anticipated Japanese import boom than with fears about short-term safety measures in the U.S. nuclear sector. The U.S. government has so far refrained from the kind of knee-jerk reaction to Japan's nuclear crisis that prompted Germany to shut down a quarter of its oldest plants, but U.S. traders are increasingly anxious that more rigorous inspections or other measures could yet crimp nuclear power use. Slicing into nuclear power would create a vacuum for other fuels to replace the lost generation -- likely natural gas as the nation has potentially more than a hundred years of supply trapped in between layers of underground rock. If operators were to shut all the General Electric ...

(Reuters) - Shares fell in Asia and Europe on Tuesday while the struggling dollar was buoyed by a report that the Federal Reserve was weighing a smaller bond-buying programme than its previous asset purchase scheme. Suggestions that Japan's central bank may also ease monetary policy weighed on the yen, but currency markets remained anxious about the prospects for new Japanese intervention, and gold held near record highs. Leading European stocks .FTEU3 fell 0.7 percent in early trade as investors took profits after four weeks of gains and grew increasingly wary of European debt challenges, particularly in Ireland and Portugal. S&P futures slipped 0.3 percent, pointing to a weaker opening on Wall Street as traders awaited a slew of economic data including readings on U.S. consumer ...

The U.S dollar recovered versus the EUR on Wednesday after a swift move lower by the Swiss franc against both currencies. The EUR reversed its earlier gains as European shares fell, with concerns that Euro Zone debt problems would stifle the region's economic growth, keeping investors averse to risky assets. Economic News USD - Dollar Hits 4 Year High on Rates Outlook The U.S. currency moved towards a 4 year high against the EUR on speculation U.S. policy makers will reiterate that the economic recovery is gaining pace. The greenback gained to $1.1946 per euro from $1.1973 yesterday. The Dollar climbed as high as $1.1877 per euro on June 7, the strongest since March 2006. Against the yen, the U.S, dollar was flat at 91.34. Currency traders also absorbed comments from Federal Reserve ...