Forex

The Australian dollar grew after the retail sales showed growth, exceeding analysts' average forecast

Asian and European trading sessions:

Euro:  The EUR / USD pair traded in the range of $ 1.3013-47during the Asian session. On the next following session the currency tried to strengthened against its major competitors as the published today releases showed that the both euro zone PMI of services and composite came out better then forecasts. According to the report, the index of business activity in the services sector and composite rose last month to the level of 47.9, up from 47.3 in January. However, after making new high the EUR / USD pair bounced back to the day lows as the value of these the indexes is still below 50 activity which indicates its weakness. In addition, it was reported that retail sales rose by 1.2% on a monthly basis, and compensated the decline of 0.8% in December and beat the average experts’ estimates of growing only by 0.3%. The Euro-Zone Retail Sales in yearly basis increased in January by 1.7%, compared with forecasts of improvement only by 0.1% During the European session the EUR / USD pair rose to high of $ 1.3073, and then fell to $ 1.3013.

British Pound: During the European session the GBP / USD couple rose to $ 1.5200, but then fell to $ 1.5145 area after the published today Purchasing Manager Index Services report showed the UK service sector expanded in February, showing a more rapid pace than analysts had forecasted. The issue, however, raised some speculations that the Bank of England will increase its easing programs.

Japanese Yen: The yen strengthened against most major currencies. Today, at the Japanese parliament one of the candidates for the post of vice- president of the Bank of Japan, Kiku Iwata said that the central bank should expand its monetary policy base and buy more long-term bonds. He also noted that although at the time the purchase of foreign bonds does not make any sense, this option might be considered later. The USD / JPY pair fell to Y92.92 during the Asian session then grew at on the next following session to the Y93.28 area.

Australian dollar: The demand for the Australian dollar grew after the published data on retail sales showed growth in January by 0.9 %, exceeding analysts' average forecast of 0.4%. There were also signs of growth in house prices as the pace of housing construction in Australia, after nearly three years of decline, also gained momentum at the end of last year. The positive impact for the currency, in addition, had the decision of the Reserve Bank of Australia to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 3%.


American trading session:

U.S. Dollar: After the service indicator in the U.S. rose in February, at the fastest pace in a year, adding signs of economic acceleration in the United States the dollar index went to the highest level in almost six months. The data published by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) today showed that the Non-Manufacturing Composite Index of U.S. rose in February to 56.0 from 55.2 last month.

Gold: The Gold prices rose to 1586.40 dollars per ounce, heading into the largest increase for the week on speculation that central banks will support measures to stimulate the economy. However, on COMEX the gold April futures price retreated from these highs against the strengthening of the dollar and dropped to the $1579 per ounce level.

Oil: The oil prices stabilized on the New York Mercantile Exchange after three days of decline due to the promise of China to support the growth of the economy. The April futures price of WTI closed at the $90.87 per barrel today.