Market Review – 18/03/2010 22:50GMT
Euro tumbles on concern Greece may need aid from IMF
The greenback traded higher against most major currencies On Thursday as worries over further monetary tightening in China and political discord within Europe over a rescue package for Greece sparked risk aversion.
The Greek issue continued to hover over the market as late Wednesday a published report came out saying that the Greek officials were not hopeful about obtaining aid at the March 25-26 EU summit and they might need to seek financial help from IMF over the long Easter weekend in April. In response, the single currency extended the decline from previous session high of 1.3819 and tumbled to 1.3586 in NY morning before stabilizing.
The Swiss franc strengthened for a fifth day against the euro, its longest winning streak in six months, as Swiss National Bank Governing Board member Jean-Pierre Danthine said policy makers cannot keep borrowing costs near zero for an extended period of time and maintain purchases of foreign currencies indefinitely. Eur/chf nose-dived to 1.4355 after the news in NY afternoon while usd/chf also reacted strongly on the comments, falling sharply from intra-day high of 1.0648 to a low of 1.0534 before rebounding from there swiftly.
The cable traded with a soft undertone in Asia morning after a strong rally in the previous day. In Europe session, U.K. Public section net borrowing came in at 12.36 billion pounds in February, less than economists’ forecast of 14.75 bln pounds but much higher than the downwardly revised reading of 0.04 billion pounds in January. Sterling rebounded briefly from 1.5240 to 1.5329 in European morning. However, the pair retreated after the release of weaker-than-expected U.K. March CBI orders which came in at -37.0 versus the expectation of -32.0 and the reading of -36.0 in February and price hit an intra-day low of 1.5217 in NY morning before trading sideways.
Economic data to be released on Friday include Japan industry index, Germany PPI, Canada CPI and retail sales.