Good News in Europe?
January 13, 2012 | 07:48 AM
Posted by David Mason
The Euro was up yesterday against most major currencies as the European Central Bank announced that a credit crisis has been averted. On the heels of this somewhat suspicious announcement, Italy will be conducting a debt sale, scheduled to take place sometime today. The announcement by the ECB reenergized the Euro somewhat, with the 17 nation currency up against the greenback, trading at 1.2864. The numbers don’t match the positive attitude of European leaders however, with several EU members still on the verge of bankruptcy.
Euro Up
The single currency is up against other currencies today, with the EUR/USD trading at 1.2859, an increase of 0.335%. The EUR/CHF and the EUR/JPY are also up this morning, trading at 1.2121 and 98.71. The American Dollar is heading in the opposite direction so far in trading today, with the greenback down against both the Swiss Franc and the Japanese Yen. The Italian debt sale set to take place today could be a major influence over the performance of the Euro going into the weekend.
Trade Balance reports today
Trade Balance reports from the United States and Canada will be released today at 1:30pm GMT. The Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment will also be released today in the U.S. The Trade Balance report shows the difference in value between imported and exported goods. The forecast for the United States is minus 43.5B USD, while Canada is projected to be slightly on the plus side with a 0.7B USD. The PPI Input will be released today in the UK at 9:30am GMT.
Wall Street takes cue from ECB
U.S. Stocks were on the rise yesterday, in part because of promising news from the European Central Bank and the fact that both the ECB and the Bank of England did not raise interest rates yesterday. At the end of trading yesterday the Dow Jones Industrial was up 0.17% with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite up as well by 0.31% and 0.51% respectively. Major indices are up this morning in trading thus far, with a notable exception being the UK 100, down 0.15% at 5662.42.
Mixed results for Commodities
Both gold and silver are down this morning, with gold experiencing a slight decline of 0.03% and trading at 1647.15. Silver is down by 0.31% and trading at 30.030. Oil is headed in the opposite direction, with Crude Oil up by 0.86% and trading at 99.95 Dollar per barrel.