March 14, 2012 – The Plot

March 14
2012

Loonie Lower on Greenback Strength

Canadian dollar is weaker today, heading lower as the US dollar shows strength, and as commodities fall back. Today, it’s not a lot about economic data — including trade data — and more about larger trends for the future. With expectations of a US economic recovery picking up the pace, the greenback is gaining the upper hand. Loonie is lower against the greenback today, due mostly to the fact that the US […]

March 14
2012

Rand Tumbles on Speculation that Central Bank Buys Dollars

The South African rand slumped today after two days of gains on the speculation that the central bank bought dollars to keep the currency from appreciating further after it had reached the highest level in five months in February. Economists speculated that South Africa’s central bank was buying dollars to prevent the rand from becoming too strong and hurting the nation’s economy. The rand also fell as riskier currencies felt pressure […]

March 14
2012

Japanese Yen Retains Weakness in Forex Trading

There’s a great deal of optimism going around the financial markets right now, and that means that there isn’t much need for the Japanese yen. With good news out of the United States, and remarks from Japanese leaders indicating that more easing could be on the way, the yen is well-positioned to retain much of its weakness in Forex trading. Yen is usually seen as a safe haven currency that Forex traders […]

March 14
2012

GBP Fluctuates After Jobless Claims Climb

The Great Britain pound fluctuated versus the US dollar today after a report showed that jobless claims rose last month more than was predicted. The currency was falling throughout the first half of the trading session, then rebounded and now fluctuates in a wide range. Claims for unemployment benefits rose by 7,200 jobs in February, following the 7,000 increase in January. That was the 12th consecutive increase. The median forecast was a growth […]

March 14
2012

EUR/USD Falls as FOMC Refrains from QE, Sees Economic Recovery

EUR/USD fell yesterday and continued its decline today after the FOMC refrained from adding stimulus for the US economy, as some analysts expected it would do. Moreover, the Committee changed its assessment for pace of the US economic recovery from “modest” to “moderate”. The news boosted the dollar that was already advancing after the positive retail sales report. Retail sales rose 1.1% in February from the previous month, exactly as forecasters […]

March 14
2012

EUR/USD Trending Down

EUR/USD continued its downward movement today after falling yesterday. Data from the United States were worse than analysts predicted, but the dollar is still strong after it was boosted yesterday by the minutes of the Federal Reserve monetary meeting. US current account deficit increased to $124.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011 from $107.6 billion in the third quarter. The expected value was $114.0 billion. (Event A on the chart.) […]

March 14
2012

Australian Dollar Jumps on US Economic Recovery

The Australian dollar advanced as stocks and commodities rallied after the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its monetary policy meeting, indicating that the US economy is improving. The Fed indicated that the US economy “has been expanding moderately” (previously the US central bank was saying that the recovery is proceeding with “modest” pace). Chairman Ben Bernanke didn’t mention a new round of quantitative easing, but analysts said […]

March 14
2012

Dollar Jumps as Fed Refrains from QE

The US dollar jumped, reaching the highest level in almost a year against the Japanese yen, after the Federal Reserve refrained from additional quantitative easing and spoke about economic recovery. The Federal Open Market Committee kept the main interest rate unchanged near zero and refrained from adding stimulus for the US economy. Moreover, the FOMC was relatively optimistic about the US economy: Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee […]

Day: March 14, 2012