Friday, 21 Aug 2009

EUR Continues to Strengthen

During today's trading session the EUR continued to dominate the market. The EUR/USD rose over 100 pips and is currently traded at the 1.4330 level. The Euro also appreciated against the Yen, rising close to 100 pips.

The EUR's uptrend came as a result of the positive economic indicators, published earlier today from the Euro-Zone's leading nations. The German Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) delivered a surprising 49.0 figure, showing that the German private sector returns to show growth signals. The French Manufacturing PMI also surprisingly rose to 50.2, also indicating that the Euro-Zone's economies show recovery signs. Also today, crude oil and gold are seeing sharp uptrend, as a result of the deteriorating Dollar. Expectations for economic recovery in the Euro-Zone have also contributed to the rising oil, as investors expect to see a larger demand for fuel as a result.

Later on today, The U.S Existing Home Sales is scheduled for 14:00 GMT. Analysts forecast that 5.03M residential buildings were sold during July. If the actual result will indeed be similar, investors might see it interpret it as a signal that the housing sector in the U.S. is rebounding. This might halt the Dollar's depreciation before the week ends.