Once again, the euro suffered as the Greece debt crisis continued to top the headlines of most financial news pages. The euro lost more than 1.5 per cent against the US dollar during Friday’s Forex trading sessions at eToro and at other Forex markets, and today, to make matters worse, the Greek Prime Minister has said that Greece cannot meet the agreed repayment plan required to secure the IMF bailout funds on offer.
In a cabinet meeting today, the Greek Government proposed a move that would see civil servants who are approaching retirement age being put in ‘reserve’ or being suspending at reduced rate of pay. However, this, and the many other austerity measures proposed, still won’t be enough to meet the repayment quota that’s a condition of the next £1.6 billion instalment of the total £94 billion rescue plan.
The US Federal Reserve is announced a strategy to stimulate their ailing economy by selling $400 billion of its short-term securities and exchanging them for $400 billion in long-term securities, a move that’s designed encourage lending and borrowing among US banks and businesses. However, this news caused the price of gold fall and the dollar to rise at ForexYard and other online commodities and Forex brokers.
Following the news from the Feds, the price of safe haven commodity – gold – fell by over $26 per troy ounce during Wednesday’s trading sessions. The price of gold at ForexYard fell from $1,809.10 to $1,782.60 but, most unusually, the price of silver rose during the day. Silver prices normally shadow gold prices but today things were different. As gold was shedding dollars the price of silver rose by a little under 1 per cent, while palladium and copper also made small gains.
Despite disappointing US non-farm payroll numbers, the euro continued to fall against the dollar during a busy end to the Forex trading week. Forex traders at eToro witnessed the single European currency continue its recent slide throughout Friday, only recovering slightly when the Federal Reserve released the eagerly anticipated employment figures.
Pressure has once again been mounting on the euro as further debt worries for Greece and its economy continued to make Forex traders wary of the euro. During Friday’s trading sessions the EUR/USD currency pair fell as low as 1.4185 before recovering slightly ahead of the weekend close of the world’s Forex markets.
The GBP/USD made some hefty gains as the US employment data was released, soaring to 1.6251. However, the pound’s advances were short-lived as investors dumped the pound, taking quick profits, not wanting to risk holding the UK currency over the weekend. This is because the UK is due to release its PMI numbers on Monday and analysts believe that the news won’t be good.
So, one busy week of Forex trading has drawn to a close and another one will start on Monday, and it should be a busy Monday indeed. As we’ve mentioned, the UK is due to release its PMI numbers for August, which, many believe, will show a poor performance for the UK economy. But, if the numbers are good, following today’s mass selling of the pound, the UK currency will shoot up. This may only be a short spike so be ready to act fast.
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For the fourth day in a row the British pound fell against the euro following the release of figures by the Office of National Statistics that showed just a very small expansion of the economy, as the UK, along with many other nations, struggles to recover from recession. The pound was down significantly today but, the US dollar also lost ground against its European counterpart, as faith begins to return to investors of the euro.
During Friday – the last day of the Forex trading week – traders at ForexYard saw Sterling fall by 0.3 per cent to 88.54 against the euro. Friday’s losses for the pound followed a fall to a two-week low of 88.25 on Thursday, and two other previous days of losses for the EUR/GBP currency pair on Wednesday and Tuesday.
Thanks to the world’s numerous financial crises and investors’ appetite for safe haven options, gold trading is as popular as ever at eToro and other leading online brokers. The price of gold has been rocketing over the last few months, reaching a new record high of $1,681.65 per ounce during Thursday’s trading sessions, but will the gold bubble burst or can we consider the precious metal a safe commodity to trade for the foreseeable future?
As silver prices almost always mirror the fortunes of gold prices, the price of silver has been on the rise too, climbing by over 25 per cent over the last year. Gold and silver have been bucking the trend recently, with both of their prices significantly increasing, while practically all other commodities and stock markets have been recording negative numbers during the same period.
The coming week is going to be full of events that will affect the fortunes of the world’s major currencies. So, we’ve compiled a list of next week’s key economic events that will influence Forex markets across the globe, in a bid to give you a ‘heads up’, allowing you to stay one step ahead of the game. There’s will be releases and reports from the US, UK and Europe, which will all affect the value of their respective currency pairs.
On Monday, the US will release their manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for July and, following a 2 per cent rise during June, it is expected that a small drop will be recorded, as the figures continue to stabilise. A fall in manufacturing PMI may trigger a fall in the US dollar and may offer profitable short positions for the shrewd Forex trader.
Once again the price of gold has surpassed record highs, trading as high as $1,609.30 per ounce at eToro during the Tuesday trading sessions. The new record price for gold has come about largely due to weakened dollar and the troubled euro, as commodities and Forex traders sell dollars and euros in favour of the safe haven commodity that is gold.
Even though gold prices have retreated a little since Tuesday, at the time of writing this article gold was being sold for $1,589.53 at eToro, with no sign of a landslide fall in the precious metal’s fortunes anywhere in sight. Gold’s most recent charge is mainly due to economic issues and weak currencies on both sides of the Atlantic.
Thursday was a busy day for traders at ForexYard and other Forex markets across the world as numerous key economic events took place, with one notable event being the European Central Bank’s decision to raise interest rates to 1.5 per cent from 1.25 per cent. However, even after news of the interest rate hike, Forex traders chose the US dollar over the euro, with the single European currency failing to benefit from the rate rise thanks to continuing fears over Greece’s debt crisis.
Late on during the London trading session the US dollar was up by 0.28 per cent as the EUR/USD currency pair dropped to 1.4278. The in-form American currency was also up against the British pound, which was less of a shock following the Bank of England’s decision to keep its key interest rate at the record low figure of 0.5 per cent, a decision that came as little surprise to most informed Forex traders.
Forex traders at eToro and other trading platforms around the world saw renewed appetite for the euro today as Greece agreed new austerity measures to avoid defaulting on its debts, something that could spell disaster for the Greek economy. This latest agreement by the Greek Government will go a long way to securing the €28 billion EU/IMF bailout package, which is being voted on tomorrow.
The troubled Greek economy has been the primary reason for the euro’s recent poor performance across the world’s Forex markets, and the riots and protests by the people of Greece over the last 48 hours has done nothing to assist the fortunes of the euro. However, if a bailout package can be secured, the future of both Greece’s economy and the euro will look much brighter.
Wednesday has been a bad trading day for the euro so far as the European single currency suffered broadly during the first half of the day. A massive decline this morning saw the euro drop almost 1 per cent against the US dollar at ForexYard, following disagreements from Eurozone ministers regarding the Greek debt crisis and also news that some of France’s largest banks could face credit rating downgrades by leading rating agency Moody’s.
In recent weeks Forex traders have witnessed the euro holding its own, especially against the US dollar, which has been facing its own difficulties. However, the euro took a huge hit during the early London trading, with prices for the EUR/USD plummeting as low as $1.4310, still a distance above the support levels that are believed to be around the $1.4250 mark.
