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The euro lost ground against most of its major counterparts during European session on Thursday.

Against the British currency, the euro slipped to 0.8759 at 9:00 am ET, down from a new multi-week high of 0.8844 hit at 4:15 am ET. The current quote for the euro-pound pair is 0.8761, compared to yesterday's close of 0.8811.

The euro traded in a tight range against the Swiss franc. As of now, the euro-franc pair is trading near yesterday's close of 1.4666.

The euro lost ground against the U.S. dollar. At 9:00 am ET, the euro fell to 1.3653 against the U.S. currency. As of now, the euro is worth 1.3669 against the U.S. dollar. The euro-greenback pair closed yesterday's trading at 1.3734.

The euro showed a downtrend against the Japanese currency as well. At 9:10 am ET, the euro declined to 122.49 versus the yen. At present, the euro is trading at 122.72 versus the yen, compared to yesterday's close of 123.61.


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Risk averse traders continued to flock to the relative safety of the dollar on Friday, with the world's de facto reserve currency enjoying a solid bid amid growing speculation the steam has run out of the global recovery.

The buck hit a fresh 9-month high again the euro, which has been hammered amid concerns that Greek debt problems will spread to other fragile economies without meaningful intervention on the part of more stable euro area nations.

However, with the eurozone struggling with anemic economic growth, major economies may be hesitant to drastically boost spending in order to prevent the Greek contagion.

European officials offered vague promises to support Greece on Thursday, and are expected to detail an aid package sometime next week.

Meanwhile, encouraging US retails sales data was overshadowed by news that China is engineering a soft slowdown of its economy.

A report from the Commerce Department on Friday showed that retail sales increased by 0.5 percent in January following a revised 0.1 percent decrease in December.

Adding to worries about the sustainability of the global recovery, China, now the engine of global growth, hiked its reserve requirement on banks in order to stem lending.

Even with the Dow taking back most of a 160 point drop in early dealing, the dollar sustained most of its gains against the euro.

The dollar rose to 1.3531 versus the euro, its highest level since last May, then backed off a penny to 1.3650.

At the same time, the buck extended this week's run of choppy trading versus the sterling, bouncing back and forth near 1.5600. The buck touched an 8-month high of 1.5533 a week ago, but has since risen no further.

The dollar also remained directionless against the yen, hanging around the Y90 mark.

The eurozone continued to lag behind the global economic recovery in the fourth quarter of 2009. Gross domestic product across the eurozone grew by only 0.1% in the fourth quarter compared to the previous three-month period.

The German economy, Europe's largest, unexpectedly stagnated in the fourth quarter as final consumption expenditure and investment failed to support growth.

Better-than-forecast French growth figures may have prevented the eurozone economy from sliding back into contraction mode.

Greece, saw its output shrink by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, casting doubts about the Greek public's willingness to accept cost cutting measures aimed at getting the nation's debt under control.

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The euro traded mixed against other major currencies during early European deals on Monday. The euro pared its recent gains against the pound and the franc, but declined against the yen. However, the euro recovered its recent losses against the U.S. dollar.

European stocks rose today in early trade, with banks and commodity stocks taking the lead as investors awaited the euro zone finance ministers meeting.

In early deals, Germany's DAX climbed 0.5%, France's CAC-40 index jumped 0.8% and U.K.'s FTSE 100 index rose 0.7%.

The euro pared its recent gains against the pound during early European session on Monday. The euro slipped to 0.8673 at 4:00 am ET, moving down from 0.8705 hit earlier. Presently, The euro-pound pair is trading near Fridays' New York session close of 0.8674.

The euro lost some its late Asian session gains versus the Swiss currency during early European deals on Monday. Moving down from a high of 1.4681 touched at 12:55 am ET, the euro reached a low of 1.4655 at 4:30 am ET. As of now, the euro is trading at 1.4656 against the franc, compared to Friday's New York session close of 1.4666.

On Monday, against the yen, the euro extended its Asian session's downtrend during early European deals. At 4:30 am ET, the euro fell to 122.43 against the yen. The current quote for the euro-yen pair is 122.45, compared to Friday's close of 122.67.

The euro recovered its recent losses against the U.S. dollar during early European deals on Monday. The euro drifted higher to 1.3610 at 4:15 am ET, moving up from 1.3594 hit earlier. As of now, the euro is worth 1.3608 against the greenback, compared to Friday's close of 1.3623.

The U.S. financial markets are closed today in observance of Presidents Day.

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The European Central Bank currently has no plans to raise interest rates as there is no imminent risks of inflation and it would withdraw emergency support measures gradually, Governing Council member Guy Quaden said Wednesday.

There is "no reason to raise interest rates at the moment," Quaden said in Brussels. "We don't see any risks for the moment."

The central bank has kept its interest rate at a record low of 1% since May 2009 to support the economy in battling a severe downturn. The bank also injected billions of euros to maintain liquidity in the region's banking system.

With regard to wiping out emergency measures, Quaden, who also heads the National Bank of Belgium, said a gradual approach would be the best. He noted that a delayed withdrawal may bring negative consequences. According to the central banker, the Eurozone recovery is fragile as it was led by huge fiscal stimuli and unemployment would keep rising as firms continue to suffer.


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The dollar was little changed versus other major currencies Monday morning in New York, holding onto most of its strong recent gains versus the struggling euro.

The buck hit new 9-month highs last week amid speculation the Federal Reserve may be getting set to tighten monetary policy following a surprise move to raise the discount lending rate to banks.

With Europe mired in debt problems and experience sluggish growth, the dollar has surged over the past few months.

The buck was at 1.3590 versus the euro this morning, having touched as high as 1.3440 last week.

Against the sterling, the dollar was steady at 1.5456, pulling back a penny from Friday's highest mark since last May.

At the same time, the dollar drifted slightly lower versus the yen, easing to 91.20 from a monthly high above 92.

With no major economic data on tap for the day, traders will focus on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's appearance before the House Financial Services Committee.

Later this week, the markets will be treated to preliminary fourth quarter growth figures, as well as data on housing and employment.

In economic news from overseas, Greece will meet its very ambitious deficit-reduction goals and the country's government is prepared to take additional measures, Greek central bank governor George Provopoulos said in an interview with Bloomberg.

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In early European deals on Monday, the euro eased from an early Asian session's multi-day highs against the dollar, the yen and the pound as investors remain concerned about sovereign debt problems.

Research firm DBS said today that the euro's direction this week depends on two key events, namely the Greek bond issue and the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony.

Early this week, Greece is expected to announce details on its plan to issue 10-year bonds, while Bernanke is expected to deliver his semi-annual congressional testimony on February 24 and 25.

The firm is of the view that the euro will resume its depreciation if the Greek bond issue causes widening of Greek credit default swap and if Bernanke relays more optimism about recovery, while also showing patience on rate hikes.

The euro that rose to an 11-day high of 0.8819 against the pound in early Asian deals on Monday showed choppy trading in late Asian deals but fell during the early European session. As of now, the euro-pound pair is worth 0.8795, down from Friday's close of 0.8805.

Against the franc, the euro declined to 1.4649 at 4:25 am ET, from an early Asian session high of 1.4668. As of now, the euro-franc pair is trading near Friday's close of 1.4649.

Monday morning in Asia, the euro strengthened to an 18-day high against the Japanese currency, but pared gains during late trading and extended its slide in early European deals. At 4:30 am ET, the euro-yen pair was worth 124.71, compared to Friday's close of 124.67.

Moving down from an Asian session's multi-day high of 1.3665 against the U.S. dollar, the euro touched a low of 1.3618 at 4:35 am ET. At present, the euro-dollar pair is trading at 1.3617, compared Friday's close of 1.3587.

Looking ahead, San Francisco Federal Reserve President Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak at the University of San Diego at 10:30 am ET.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to appear before the House Financial Services Committee hearing on "Prospects for Employment Growth: Is Additional Stimulus Needed?" at 11 am ET.

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Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Ric Battellino said on Tuesday that the country was better prepared to deal with a mining boom than in the past because of its floating exchange rate and tighter monetary and fiscal policy frameworks.

But the rapid emergence of China and India means the current mining surge could be a lot longer than previous booms, he said.

In a speech to the Sydney Institute, Battellino said the current boom began in 2005 before being held back by the global financial crisis and that now, the dynamics of a boom are starting to reappear.

"History tells us that mining booms are periods of significant economic change and that they can pose complex challenges for policy makers," said Battellino.

"Key among these is the need to ensure flexibility in the economy and maintain disciplined macroeconomic policies in order to contain the inflationary forces generated by the boom."

Battellino did not elaborate on the outlook for monetary policy, with the RBA's March rate setting meeting fast approaching.

"In the 30 years since the previous boom, the Australian economy has developed in ways that should make it better able to accommodate the surge in mining activity that is currently under way," said Battellino.

The central banker said the floating exchange rate is a key difference from the past while goods and labor markets are more flexible, and monetary and fiscal policy frameworks are more "soundly based".

"This gives grounds for confidence that we can do better this time, but the task will not be without challenges," Battellino said.

Australia was the first major economy to raise interest rates in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

The country's economy has been shielded from the worst of the worldwide recession, thanks to continuing strong demand from China for its abundant mineral resources and active stimulus measures implemented on the domestic front.

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Japan's unemployment rate came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.9 percent in January, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday, beating expectations for a steady performance after showing 5.1 percent in December.

The number of employed persons in January was 62.13 million, a decrease of 790 thousand or 1.3 percent from the previous year.

The number of unemployed persons in January was 3.23 million, an increase of 460 thousand or 16.6 percent from the previous year.

Commenting on the data at a regularly scheduled press conference, Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan said the numbers show that the labor market is "improving somewhat."

The job-to-applicant ratio was unchanged at 0.46, falling shy of expectations for a mark of 0.47.

Also, household spending was weaker than expected in January, adding just 1.7 percent on year versus expectations for a 2.5 percent gain after climbing an annual 2.1 percent in December.

The propensity to consume was up 1.7 points on year to 88.8 percent.

Also on Tuesday, the Bank of Japan said that the monetary base in Japan was up 2.2 percent on year in February to 95.69 trillion yen, after adding an annual 4.9 percent in January.

Banknotes in circulation were up 0.1 percent, while coins in circulation shed 0.7 percent.

The current account balance jumped an annual 15.3 percent to 1.48 trillion yen, including a 15.7 percent surge in reserve balances.

Seasonally adjusted, the monetary base was down 16.8 percent to 94.97 trillion yen.


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The dollar briefly touched a fresh 9-month high versus the euro and kept most of its dramatic recent gains against the sterling Tuesday morning in New York, with markets waiting for further clues about the condition of the US economy.

A string of lackluster economic data released over the past few weeks has fueled concerns that the robust growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2009 was a temporary result of massive government spending.

However, the economies in Europe remain even more distressed, making the dollar an attractive alternative to the euro and sterling.

An overnight surge brought the dollar to 1.3434 versus the euro, its highest level since last May. However, the buck quickly turned back to trade at 1.3550.

Tuesday, a flash report from the Eurostat showed that consumer price inflation in the euro area stood at 0.9% in February, down from 1% in January.

The dollar consolidated its gains against the sterling, holding near 1.4950. Yesterday, the dollar skyrocketed to 1.4790 amid concerns about the British economy.

U.K. construction activity contracted in February, a survey conducted by the Markit Economics showed Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted CIPS/Markit Construction Purchasing Managers' Index fell slightly to 48.5 in February from 48.6 in January.

David Noble, Chief Executive Officer at the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply said, "While the UK economy slowly pulls into recovery mode, the construction sector has now been confined in recession territory for two years and is still very fragile."

Elsewhere, Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan said the government will not demand the Bank of Japan to purchase bonds directly from the government.

The dollar saw little movement against the yen, staying near 89 for a fourth day.

Conversely, the dollar remained under heavy pressure against its Canadian counterpart, hitting 7-week low of C$1.0340.

The Bank of Canada will make its interest rate announcement this morning. Economists expect the target for the key overnight rate to remain unchanged at 0.25 per cent.

Individual automakers are scheduled to release their monthly U.S. sales results for February. The data will reveal the unit sales of domestically produced cars and light duty trucks, including sports utility vehicles and mini-vans, during the month.

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