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.
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.
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.
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.
Even though the euro has already benefitted greatly from the predicted interest rate rise tomorrow it still continued to make headway against its US counterpart, while the Japanese yen dropped to new lows. Forex traders at eToro watched the euro soar to a 14-month high against the dollar during today’s European trading sessions, at the same time as the yen fell to a a six-month low against the dollar and an 11-month low against the euro.
Unsurprisingly, the Japanese yen has been under the cosh since the devastating earthquake and tsunami that threw the yen into a chaotic position. However, the Bank of Japan has made numerous efforts to stabilise the yen but this hasn’t stopped the Japanese currency falling further. The EUR/JPY climbed to a high of 121.97 before settling at 121.70, which the USD/JPY was up 0.2 per cent at 85.12.
Protestors in opposition of the huge budget cuts faced in Greece set fire to a bank in which three employees were killed. The Greek demonstrators rioted following news of huge cuts to be made by the government in order for the struggling European state to pull its way out of the huge financial crisis that it finds itself in.
A deal has been put forward by both the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to offer a €100 billion rescue plan to Greece but this deal not only needs to be agreed by the 15 EU member states but also the people of Greece, who will face huge cut backs to public services and a steep rise in taxes. This uncertainty has led to the Euro performing badly at Forex markets such as Forex WebTrader.
Following further talks between the European Union and International Monetary Fund chiefs, the euro climbed for the second day in a row as confidence of a successful rescue plan for Greece’s failing economy returned.
Forex traders at online brokers such as ForexYard witnessed resurgence for Europe’s single currency against the US dollar and many other currencies during Thursday’s trading sessions. The euro rebounded from a one-year low of $1.3112 on Wednesday to $1.3244 during late afternoon New York trading, which is a rise of 0.3%.
This week, Forex Traders Saw The Euro Continue To Struggle as it hovered above a nine-month low. The European currency continued to face pressure from the US dollar, Japanese yen and other currency pairs at forex trading markets such as AVAFX. The continued pressure comes as investors await further details on a rescue package for Greece, and its fiscal debt repayment plans.
The trouble that Greece has faced recently regarding its budget deficits has seen huge dents made to the value of the euro, with the French Banking Chief suggesting that the collapse of the single European currency is “inevitable.” This has prompted forex traders and investors to opt for safer, more predictable currency pairs to trade, as opposed to euro pairs.
During today’s trading the Euro made a slight recovery against the dollar but was still hovering around an eight-month low. The euro managed to steady itself against the US dollar but there is still widespread caution being shown by Forex Traders and investors of European Markets due to the caution of the fiscal health of certain EU member states.
Following the close of the markets today, the euro still remains near an eight-month low against the US dollar and the confidence of forex traders at sites such as eToro, who are buying and selling positions against the euro has been unsettled further by the news of Spain, Greece and Portugal’s financial difficulties and debts.
