Forex - Dollar remains lower on improved risk appetite

Published 01/19/2012, 11:19 AM
EUR/USD
-
GBP/USD
-
USD/JPY
-
USD/CHF
-
AUD/USD
-
USD/CAD
-
NZD/USD
-
Investing.com - The U.S. dollar remained lower against almost all of its major counterparts on Thursday, as market sentiment remained supported by hopes that Greece was nearing a debt-restructuring deal with its creditors.

During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD up 0.24% to hit 1.2895.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was due to meet representatives for the country’s creditors later in the day to discuss the latest proposal for a bond swap.

The euro found support earlier after auctions of Spanish and French government debt met with solid investor demand and broadly lower yields.

The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.14% to hit 1.5457.

In the U.K., a report by lender Nationwide showed that its consumer confidence index dropped to 38 in December from 40 the previous month. This was close to October's reading of 36, the lowest level since the survey began in 2004.

Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against the yen but lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY advancing 0.41% to hit 77.14 and USD/CHF shedding 0.26% to hit 0.9368.

The greenback was also weaker against its Canadian cousin but advanced against the Australian and New Zealand dollars, with USD/CAD shedding 0.25% to hit 1.0085, AUD/USD slipping 0.17% to hit 1.0416 and NZD/USD down 0.42% to hit 0.8008.

A report earlier showed that Australia's economy lost 29,300 jobs in December, confounding expectations for a gain of 10,000. The country’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.2%.

A separate report showed that consumer price inflation in New Zealand fell unexpectedly in the fourth quarter.

In the U.S., official data showed that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance last week declined unexpectedly, falling to the lowest level in almost four years.

The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending January 13 fell to 352,000 from 402,000 the previous week. Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to fall to 385,000 last week.

Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in ten of the past twelve weeks.

Elsewhere, data showed that manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia-region expanded at a slower rate than expected in January.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.22% to hit 80.44.

Also Thursday, official data showed that U.S. consumer price inflation was flat in December. Meanwhile, U.S. building permits remained unchanged close to a 22-month high last month, while housing starts rose less-than-expected.


Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2025 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.