The coming week is going to be filled with a number of events, releases and publications that will shape the fortunes of the world’s Forex markets, but it’s the news from the UK and the US that we’re focussing on. The week ahead for traders of dollars and pounds will be filled with key events that will shape the fortunes of the USD and GBP at eToro and across the world’s Forex markets.
On Monday, the most notable event will be the release of the UK’s industry data on house price inflation, which is a leading indicator of demand in the housing market and a good indicator of the strength of the British economy as a whole. Also on Monday, the US will release a host of reports that include data on retail sales, manufacturing activity in New York and government data on net long-term securities transactions, all of which will shape the fortunes of the US dollar at Forex markets across the globe.
During today’s trading sessions, Forex traders saw the US dollar slide, with the greenback losing ground against the euro, Swiss franc and Australian dollar amidst fears of further quantitative easing measures following remarks by the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, with traders. Forex traders at eToro and other online brokers saw the EUR/USD currency pair climb by over 0.3% following the news.
However, many of you may be asking why would the suggestion of quantitative easing in the US cause the dollar to slide? Quantitative easing is a measure used by central banks to stimulate growth in a country’s economy. This is done by the purchase financial assets, which injects a predetermined quantity of money into the economy, often used to keep interest rates at a specific level. However, this practice comes with risks.
For the past five weeks the price of gold has made consistent gains but many market analysts believe that this week may see the price of the precious metal retreat a little. However, this dip is believed to be a short term trend that will quickly reverse, as many traders at eToro and other commodities trading sites are predicting that gold prices are set to rise during 2012.
The price of gold fell during Friday’s New York trading session, closing at $1,740.30 an ounce, which was down on the day but marginally up on the week once again. The main catalyst for the sudden dip in the price of gold on Friday was strong US employment figures and the news of 243,000 jobs being created, which boosted the strength of the US dollar. Because gold is traded in US dollars, the stronger the dollar is the weaker gold is. This is why gold struggled against the strong dollar on Friday.
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.
