Europe’s periphery again catches attention

Though James Bullard is not a voting member of the Fed now, he is still concerned with the Committee’s inside. For this reason his comments that FOMC could start increasing the rates earlier than expected by the market stopped the US dollar from falling in the morning yesterday. And then the almost forgotten fear again fell upon the markets, the fear about Europe’s ‘troubled’ countries and their financial sectors. The second largest bank of Portugal aroused particular concerns around its solvency, as Espirito Santo International, a shareholder of Banco Espirito Santo SA, missed short-term debt payments. It immediately stirred concerns about more…

Fed to end QE by October

EUR/USD

As reported in yesterday’s meeting minutes of FOMC, if the US economy maintains the expected growth rate, the Fed will announce the end of QE already in October. It means that at the October meeting the decrease will make 15bln and before that, in July and September, asset purchases will be reduced by 10bln. It is unlikely that the Fed will give up this course for a quicker one because of the strong employment data. It is remarkable that the minutes highlighted concerns about investors’ possible misinterpretation of the  risks in the hope that interest rates will remain low for long. more…

Persistent purchasing of EUR

EUR/USD

It was quite a boring trading session for the pair, nothing to compare with Brazil’s defeat in the semifinal. It is not the first time the US dollar takes timid attempts to grow in the morning and then falls down in the afternoon. It is remarkable that the depreciation of the US currency (the growth of EURUSD) is going on against the correction in the stock exchanges. The latter are concerned about the ratio of corporate profits before the beginning of the reporting season – Samsung’s downward revision of the forecasts has its effect. Anyway, it doesn’t spoil the general picture more…

EUR grows against the news

EUR/USD

The single currency is trying to grow against the news. The main reason for bulls’ enthusiasm is the cautious tone of the ECB members, who are usually neutral about the monetary policy. The Bank’s representatives  make it clear that QE can be expected only if the situation  in the EU deteriorates sharply. Now it’s hard to imagine what it can be – either a new spiral of the debt crisis or, which is more likely, economic slowdown with inflation remaining low. It’s important that investors should ignore signs of economic slowdown in the eurozone, as across the ocean there aren’t any more…

Bears win back 200-day MA in EUR

EUR/USD

Thursday’s stats on US employment contributed to strengthening of the US dollar. Yet, growth of the latter is least conspicuous against the pound, but against the euro and the yen the US currency has appreciated well enough. The dollar bulls want to depict the recent surrender of the 200-day MAs in EURUSD and USDJPY as an occasional and short-term trip beyond the key levels. The main reason for this movement is perfect employment statistics. The employment has grown by 288K, in the private sector its increase has been also good – by 262K. As a result, the average semiannual growth totals more…