Euro climbs to 16-day high against British pound

(RTTNews) - Wednesday, the European currency climbed to a 16-day high against the British pound. On the other hand, the euro slipped to a 6-day low versus the Swiss franc, while gained slightly from an early Asian session's new multi-month low against the yen and a new multi-week low versus the dollar.
The German Federal Statistical Office announced today that the producer price index or PPI rose 4.3% year-over-year in December, slower than the 5.3% recorded in the previous month. Economists had predicted an increase of 4.2%. On a monthly basis, the PPI dropped 1% in December, after falling 1.5% in November. Economists were looking for a decline of 1.2%.
The European currency gained ground against the US dollar after hitting a new multi-week low of 1.2848 during early Asian deals on Wednesday. The euro-dollar pair thus climbed to 1.3019 at 10:15 pm ET, compared to 1.2907 hit late New York Tuesday. Thereafter, the pair reversed its direction and is now worth 1.2935.
Against the British pound, the euro traded higher during Wednesday's early deals. At 4:30 am ET, the euro-pound pair reached a 16-day high of 0.9414, compared to Tuesday's closing value of 0.9269. If the pair gains further, 0.963 is seen as the next target level.
Bank of England policymakers stood divided while deciding to reduce the bank rate by 50 basis points to a record low in January, the minutes of the session revealed today. The minutes showed that the Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 on the 50 basis point reduction on January 8. The well-known dove of the rate setting body, David Blanchflower sought a 100 basis point reduction. Economists were expecting a unanimous vote.
In January's session, the MPC decided to reduce Bank Rate to 1.5% from 2%. This is the lowest rate since the central bank was established in 1694.
The Office for National Statistics or ONS reported today that the UK claimant count rate rose to 3.6% of the workforce in December from 3.3% in November. Economists were expecting the rate to rise to 3.5%.
UK's Office for National Statistics said today that the public sector net borrowing was GBP 14.9 billion in December 2008. This was GBP 7.5 billion higher net borrowing than in the previous year. Economists had expected the public sector to borrow GBP 10.5 billion.
The single currency that closed Tuesday's North American session at 1.4798 against the Swiss franc touched a 6-day low of 1.4742 at 5:00 am ET Wednesday. The next downside target level for the pair is seen around 1.472.
Against the Japanese yen, the euro declined to a new multi-month low of 115.32 during today's early Asian deals. Thereafter, the euro-yen pair reversed its direction and reached 117.22 before pulling back again. The pair is currently quoted at 116.16.
Japan's Cabinet office revealed today in a final report that the leading index declined to 81.3 in November from 85.2 in October. The November reading was revised down from the initial 81.5. A year ago, the leading index was at 94.2. Economists were looking a reading of 81.4 for November.
Across the Atlantic, the Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its weekly petroleum inventory report at 10:30 AM ET today. The oil inventory report for the week ended January 9th showed that crude oil stockpiles rose by 1.2 million barrels to 326.6 million barrels. Crude oil inventories continued to be the above the upper limit of the average range.
The National Association of Homebuilders' is scheduled to release the results of their survey on homebuilders' confidence. Builder confidence remained at a record low in December, with the housing market index holding at its November lows of 9, as buyers feared to move forward and builders found it impossible to compete with the cut-rate product that is continually flooding the market from mounting foreclosures.


For comments and feedback: contact [email protected]


Copyright(c) 2009 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved


Published: 2009-01-20 21:46:00


News are provided by InstaForex in partnership with RTT.