Concerns over the spreading of the European crises pressure the euro.
Asian and European trading sessions:
Euro: Concerns over the spreading of the debt crisis in the EC and decreased demand for high-yield assets pressured the euro, which reached a two-week low against the US dollar at the $1.4262 area today. We should note, that the pressure on the Euro was increased even more after the message of the Greek Parliament Budget Committee saying that the debt situation in Greece was out of control regardless of the planned measures.
Published weak statistics had additional negative influence on the euro: German GDP recorded a small growth only by 0.1% in comparison with +1.3% in the previous period and the EC PMI index report fell below the forecast of 49.7 and was 49.0.
British Pound: The economic situation in Europe didn’t affect much the GBP/USD pair, which found its support at the $1.6202 area and traded slightly above this level during both sessions.
Swiss Franc: The Swiss Franc grew today as a currency with the “safe-haven status, on the backdrop of rising concerns about further deterioration in financial markets.
American trading session:
US Dollar: The United States dollar increased against a basket of major currencies after the Institute for supply management (ISM manufacturing) provided data on the growing manufacturing activity index in August (factual level of 50.6 exceeded its predicted rate of 48.0).
Canadian Dollar: Canadian dollar grew to its maximum level in the recent 4 weeks against major currencies.