Tuesday, 18 Aug 2009

Rallying Equities Push GBP and Crude Oil Higher

As expected, today's economic data releases showed a positive growth in European consumer and business confidence as the German and Euro-Zone ZEW reports came out much stronger than anticipated. The resultant boost to risk appetite, and the rally in global equity markets, helped drive the EUR and GBP higher against the USD and JPY in today's trading hours.

On the other hand, the EUR's rally leveled off against its rivals as US markets gave slightly negative results pushing a few investors back towards the safety of the USD at the expense of the EUR. The rally in the GBP and Crude Oil, however, were unaffected by this news as each took off in value. Crude Oil, after falling to as low as $68 a barrel, has rallied back up towards the $72 price level. With equities continuing to gain in today's late trading hours, these trends are likely to persist through tomorrow.