Forex

The weakness of the industrial production raised some negative expectations on perspectives of the euro zone economy

Asian and European trading sessions:

Euro: The euro rose on the Asian session and the EUR / USD pair hit the $ 1.3403 level against the market participants' anticipation of the positive results of the publication of data on industrial production in the euro area. However, when the results were published the currency retreated from a weekly high against the dollar. The weak statistics showed that the industrial output of the manufacturing and energy sector in November fell by 0.3% compared to the previous month and by 3.7 % compared with the same period last year. Once again the weakness of the industrial production raised negative expectations that the euro zone economy is experiencing difficulties and is likely to demonstrate the lack of growth of the third quarter in a row. The EUR / USD pair fell to a new intraday low of $ 1.3334 during the European session.

U.S. Dollar: The U.S. dollar index fell at the Asian session. For the reducing of the cost of the dollar contributed the speech of the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Mr. Evans who noted on the need to maintain and importance of keeping the existed monetary policy by the FRS of United States.

British Pound: The GBP / USD pair rose to the level of $ 1.6152 during the Asian session. The currency fell against almost all its rivals against the background of the comments of the opposition leader Mr. Miliband who called the strategy of Prime Minister David Cameron for the EU as an "incredibly dangerous." In his today’s interview with BBC Radio 4 Mr.Cameron said that the attitude of the citizens of Britain to British membership in the European Union has changed and he intends to bring the issue to the national referendum.

Japanese Yen: The yen continued to fall on expectations of appointment of the new head of the Bank of Japan. Recently, the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said that he expects the promotion of the new and "sharp monetary policy" from the new head of the Central Bank. During the session the USD / JPY pair reached the Y89.63 level, the lowest level since June 2010.The Japanese markets were closed today for a National holiday.

American trading session:

Euro: After U.S. President Barack Obama said at a news conference that the United States cannot afford to debate on the debt limit any longer, the dollar fell against its major counterparts.

New Zealand dollar: The “kiwi” rose against all its major counterparts after the report of Business Opinion Survey showed positive results for the 4th Q of 2012.

Swiss franc: The investors put some selling pressure on the currency which they were using before as a safe haven currency in times of financial crisis on the comments of the European leaders who said that the worst days of the crisis of sovereign debt in the region may have ended.

Gold: The Gold prices grew today taking into account the positive signals from the currency market which celebrated optimism associated with the debt crisis in Europe. In addition, market participants were waiting for the speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The February futures price of gold rose to $1674.20 dollars per ounce on COMEX today.

Oil: The Oil prices rebounded slightly on the news that offshore pipeline running from Cushing (Oklahoma) to the Gulf Coast on January 11 resumed its supply in full - up to 400,000 barrels a day. The cost of oil, however, fluctuated due to the expansion of the pipeline, which can reduce the excess in the center of the USA. The February futures price of oil WTI fell to 93.41 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.