Forex

The pound strengthened today as the annual inflation rate in the UK increased in February

Asian and European trading sessions:

Euro: The Euro fluctuated today amid the uncertainty with the situation in Cypress. The euro traded near its yearly lowest levels against the fact that the euro zone finance ministers agreed on raising the "anti-crisis " tax on large deposits and reduce it on small deposits, only if the collection of the previously agreed 5.8 billion Euros will be provided. The EUR / USD pair fell to $ 1.2915 during the European session the, but later grew up to the $ 1.2955 area.

British Pound: The pound rose against the dollar, departing from the values ??of the session. The data released today which were presented by the Office for National Statistics showed that the annual inflation rate in the UK increased in February, while still keeping the highest level since May. In details, according to the report, the annual rate of inflation rose last month by 2.8%, compared with 2.7% in January which was fully in line with the expectations of many experts. The indicator was driven by rising prices for household gas and electricity, as well as the increase in the cost of gasoline. In addition, the report showed that on a monthly basis the value of the consumer price index rose 0.7%, which followed a decline of 0.5% in January, which was also coincided with the estimates of economists. The GBP / USD rose to $ 1.5150 during the European session.

Japanese Yen: On the background of dropping of the Asian stock markets which were recovering after its biggest daily drop the yen fell against all major currencies. The currency weakened for the first time in the last four days waiting for a change in leadership at the Bank of Japan, which, as expected investors, will pursue an aggressive monetary policy. The USD / JPY pair rose to Y95.48 during the Asian session and then fell to Y94.70 level.

New Zealand dollar: The New Zealand dollar fell after Finance Minister Bill English noted that the New Zealand dollar is overvalued. He also noted that the current low interest rates may remain way longer than they were previously estimated.


American trading session:

U.S. Dollar: The dollar was supported today with regard to the quite positive statistics published today. In February, the Building Permits in the United States rose from 0.904 million to 0.946 million versus 0.925 million of forecasted values. The Housing Starts also exceeded expectations, improved from 0.910 million to 0.917 million with forecasts of 0.915 million.

Euro: The euro fell to a three-month low against the dollar in spite the fact that the results of the March survey sentiment in Germany conducted by ZEW exceeded expectations. The index of economic sentiment in Germany improved to 48.5 against 48.2 the previous month, while analysts had expected a decline to 48.1. However, the volume of production in the construction sector of the euro zone fell in January from -4.6% to -7.3%. The officials of Cyprus reported today that the Parliament did not support the idea of taxtation of the bank deposits. The Parliament session ended up as was expected, the Cypriot lawmakers voted against the introduction of depository taxes (36 votes "against" and 19 abstentions).

Gold: The gold futures finally managed to stabilize above $ 1600 per troy ounce area recording the close of the COMEX’s session at the $1615 level. The still unresolved situation with Cyprus provided support for the metal as for the safe haven asset.

Oil: The April futures price of WTI fell to 92.15 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after making a new week high at the 94.08 area on the previous session.