Wednesday, 17 Feb 2010

The EUR Gives Back all of Tuesday's Gains

The Dollar gained broadly today, boosted by better then expected economic data and after the release of slightly more hawkish Federal Reserve meeting minutes. The Federal Open Market Committee released minutes from its late January meeting that expressed confidence that a U.S. economic recovery is strengthening. The optimistic tone bolstered investors' expectation that the Fed could increase interest rates sooner than previously thought.

The EUR declined versus the Dollar after the leader of Chancellor Merkel's Bavarian political allies said Germany must resist supporting Greece with taxpayers' money as to not set precedents for other nations to seek bailouts.

The EUR, which rebounded sharply from near 9 month lows on yesterday after the European Union continued to show support for Greece, fell back sharply against the Dollar. The EUR recently traded at $1.3600 from $1.3769 late Tuesday. The Dollar was at 91.07 Yen from 90.16, while the EUR was at 123.83 Yen from 124.15 Yen. The U.K. pound was at $1.5679 from $1.5787.