Market review for 25 – 29.07, 2011
The previous week started with the new wave of the euro weakness. Euro fell on Monday after the announcement that the rating agencyMoody’s reduced the Greece credit rating to Ca from Caa1. On the same day the US dollar updateda historical minimum against Swiss franc afterthe released information, that U.S. Senate on Friday failed to adopt a plan of the Republican Party, called the «Cut, Cap, and Balance».
On Monday the head of the Central bank of Japan, Shirakawa, said that growth in the yen mayhave a negative impact on the economy, pressuring corporate profits and sentiment.
The USD/JPY pair started the sessionin the range of Y78.20 – Y78.60 and could not overcome it.
Canadian dollar rose as investors sought save-heavenamid concerns about possible default of the United States. Support for the Canadian dollar was also derived from the speculations regarding the possible increase of the interest rates one more time this year. Swiss Frankstrengthened as a save-haven asset as well. Also on this background, the Japanese yen is supportedagainst the major currencies, including the U.S. dollar.
On Tuesday the EUR/USD pair grew to the $1.4480 maximums during the Asian trading session. Euro set new maximum during the European session at the $1.4520 mark. Sterling followed the euro, and the GBP/USD pair grew to the level of $1.6340 during the Asian session. The released UK GDP showed unexpected growth, which rendered support to the sterling.
Greenback renewed its historical minimum against the Swiss franc on the same day after the statement of Barak Obama regarding the increasing concerns that the growing national debt would reinforce the default of the US.
The dollar was trading at its lows against major currencies on Wednesday ahead of the vote in the U.S. on improving the dept situation. Dollar fell to recordlows against the Australian and New Zealand currencies,as Barack Obama continued to lead the fightin Congress regarding the approval ofa plan to raise debtlimit and reduce the deficit. Greenback was also pressured after the release of the durable goods orders report, which has been published in the afternoon. Orders unexpectedly fell in June by 2.1%, while analysts forecast a rise of 0.5%.
The sterling fell aftera disappointing factory orders report from the Confederation of British Industry on Wednesday, which showed that the volume of orders in July fell by 10% after rising for 1% in June. The GBP/USD pair traded in the range of $1.6401 – $1.6436. After the weak CBI report the pound retreatedto lows below the $1.6400 mark, continued moving to the lows of $1.6356 range.
On the same day the gold price renewed its historical maximum at the level of $1.628.80 ounce. The desire of investors to maintain theirstatus by investing in gold was due to continuingconcerns regarding the U.S. decision to raise the debtlimit from the current $ 14.3 trillion.
Another downgrade of Greece rating caused serious pressure on the euro on Thursday. The rating agency S&Pdowngraded the rating of Greece to’CC’ from ‘CCC’ with negative outlook on Wednesday. The rating is now on the same level with a rating from Moody’s. (It should be mentioned that the Fitchagency had downgraded Greece’s rating from B + to CCC). The EUR/USDpairtraded in the $1.4331-$1.4382 range. Its maximums were set during the European session at the $1.4400 mark.
The New Zealand dollar continued its trading at the previously reached maximum levels against the US dollar after the RBNZ has leftofficial interest rates unchanged at the 2.50% on Wednesday.
Greenback was falling against the major currencies due to the events in the U.S. Congress, where Democratic and Republican partiescontinued to seek compromise on increasing the limit of public debt. EUR/USD continued to trade near the resistance level at $1.4320.
The released on Friday US economic statistics happened to be much weaker than expectations. The US GDP and the University of Michigan confidence indicator were below forecasts. As a result, the EUR/USD managed to grow and reach the $1,4380 mark.