Euro Falls Against Dollar On Bank Writedowns

New York London GMT Tokyo Singapore

Euro Falls Against Dollar On Bank Writedowns

By Grace Cheng on April 2, 2008 | More Posts By Grace Cheng | Author's Website

Today is the start of a fresh quarter, and it is Euro’s turn to have its sentiment undermined, at least against the dollar. After failing to test its record high on Monday, the Euro has fallen steeply against the US dollar on renewed concerns about the European banking system as Swiss bank UBS announced another $19 billion in write-downs on illiquid US mortgage-backed assets and Deutsche Bank suffered big write-downs too. Tuesday saw disappointing Eurozone data such as German retail sales which fell 1.6% in February vs expectations of small 0.6% gain; Eurozone manufacturing PMI for March fell to a six-month low.

US Manufacturing

The March ISM manufacturing index came in at 48.6, better than expectations of 47.5 and rising slightly from February’s reading. It still indicated a contraction in manufacturing activity.

Bernanke Speaks

Traders and investors will next focus on Fed chairman Bernanke’s testimony later Wednesday to a Congressional committee in the US. Bernanke is likely to continue to talk about the downside risks to economic growth, and leave the door open to future rate cuts.

Forex Trading

EUR/USD’s nearest base is around 1.5550-60, and if this breaks, it could slide towards 1.5500, 1.5470. We could be seeing the formation of a double top, but the near-term outlook for the pair shall depend heavily on Friday’s US non-farm payrolls. As for USD/CHF, after three days of lurking below strong resistance around 1.0000, it finally broke upward with a huge force to an intraday high around 1.0140. Its nearest upside targets are around 1.0170, 1.0200, 1.0250. GBP/USD fell to a three-week low around 1.9730. USD/JPY surged 250 pips Tuesday to a three-week high of 102.15 on the back of a rise in US stocks and poor Tankan survey.

Wednesday:

UK mortgage approvals 0830 GMT

Eurozone PPI 0900 GMT

US MBA mortgage applications 1100 GMT

US ADP employment 1215 GMT

Fed’s Bernanke testifies before Joint Economic Committee 1330 GMT

US factory orders 1400 GMT

Check Out These Related Posts:

If you like this article please...

Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email

Email This Post To A Friend

Recent News:

Slovakia Industrial Output Drops At Slower Pace In September - 9 mins ago
*Lithuania Oct. CPI Down 0.4% On Month - 16 mins ago
*Lithuania Jan.-Sept. Trade Deficit At LTL 3.8 Bln - 20 mins ago
*Cyprus Oct. HICP Drops 1% On Year Vs. 1.2% Fall In September - 25 mins ago
*Cyprus Sept. Trade Deficit At EUR 409.37 Mln Vs. EUR 368.58 Mln Deficit In August - 27 mins ago

Opinions From Our Contributors

Commodities Gold, Silver, Oil, Natural Gas: Sideways Trading Action Likely US Dollar Tops, While Precious Metal Stocks Bottom: There’s More To Seasonality Than Summer Doldrums ‘Worst Is Behind Us,’ UH Economist Says Non Farm Payrolls To Bring The Bears Out Eight Months Into The Rally, What’s Next For The US Stock Market And Gold? Update: Gold’s Expanding Arc In Daily Chart Back To Bubble Land Fuel Your Stock Portfolio With BHP Billiton: The Best-Run Commodities Company In The World Will Gold’s Historic Bull Run Spill Over Into Silver? Gold, Silver, Oil And Natural Gas Have Gone Wild! Read More »	Financials The Mob Rules - At Least So Long As Long As Goldman And The Fed Can Continue To Drive The US Dollar Into The Ocean Stock Picks For Monday: Citigroup, JDS Uniphase And General Electric Are Discount Broker Shares Worth Owning? Investment News Briefs: UBS Fined $13.3 Million; Exxon And Shell Sign Iraq Oil Contract; Shares Of Ancestry.com Soar On IPO Retaining Risk On Wall Street: Necessary But Painful A Still-Safe 18% Dividend In “Virtual Banks” Goldman Sachs ‘Shooting Fish In A Barrel’ Warren Buffett Goes “All In” On America… How To Play The Oracle’s Big Bet IASB At Odds With FASB On ‘Extend And Pretend’ Option Traders Suggest Further Retail Sector Weakness Read More »	Exchange Traded Funds Rydex Market Timer Funds: Extremely Mixed ETFs To Cover What Warren Buffett Is Buying 10 Reasons ETF Tracking Error Occurs Law Firm Files Class Action Lawsuit On Behalf Of Investors In ProShares Ultra Oil & Gas Fund (DIG) 6 Reasons To Watch China’s ETFs Five Tips For Trading ETFs The Carry Trade: What Is It And How To Play It? Midday Market Update: Jobs Report Cheers Wall Street Gold ETF: With Each Push Higher, Volume Has Been Declining Gold To Continue Its Record Run As Central Banks Stock Up Read More »
Stocks Many Western Oil Producers Like Exxon, Shell And Eni Are Reluctantly Returning To Iraq’s Oilfields Stock Investor Sentiment: Changes Within The Indicators Combining Bollinger Bands On Rates Of Change In The VIX Is Another Bubble Building In Stocks, Commodities And Currencies? Month To Date Market Review S&P 500: Market Is Strong, But Correction Should Continue Doctor Up Your Portfolio With This Medical Communications Company Dendreon Corp.: Put This Promising Biotech Stock On Your Watch List Has Asia Dethroned Detroit As The Auto Sector Leader? Three Marketing Giants Adjust To The New “Post-Crash” Reality Read More »	Forex Monday’s Forex Outlook Dollars And Books Revisited Weak U.S. Economy May Not Mean Weak Dollar This Time Australian Dollar: The Downside Prevails Canadian Dollar: Caution USD/JPY Moves Below The 89.82 Level As Stocks Move Back And Forth Swiss Franc: The Downside Prevails Japanese Yen: Under Pressure British Pound: The Downside Prevails Euro: Under Pressure Read More »	Economy Cartoon: I Feel Bullish… Economic, News And Corporate Earnings Reports For The Week Nov 9 - 13 Stimulus Is Only Stimulating “Economic Misery” The Problems With “Printing Your Way Out Of Debt” US Unemployment Rate Up Unexpectedly At 10.2%: Is The Economic Rebound A “Jobless Recovery”? US Commercial Property Sector: A Tsunami Of Red Ink Interesting Articles To Read US Unemployment Rate Troubling, But … Cartoon: It’s Still The Economy, Stupid Extension Of US Unemployment Benefits: Will That Really Benefit The Overall Economy? Read More »