Dollar, Yen, Euro, Pound - all Fluctuate

Dollar Falls Against Yen as Reports to Show Deepening Recession

By Stanley White and Ron Harui

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell against the yen before U.S. reports this week that may show manufacturing contracted and employers cut jobs by the most since 2001 as the recession deepens.

The euro declined against the dollar and the yen as traders bet the European Central Bank will reduce borrowing costs this week in response to the recession. The Australian and New Zealand dollars weakened as economists forecast policy makers in both countries will lower interest rates this week as the economic outlook deteriorates.

“People may look more closely at the U.S. economy, so there’s some scope for dollar depreciation,” said Akio Shimizu … to read the full article please follow this link:

Online Currency | Dollars-Yen-Euros-Pounds

Courtesy: Bloomberg.com

Currency Chart

GLOBAL CURRENCY EXCHANGE NETWORK - DAILY CURRENCY NEWS

CURRENCIES	HIGH	LOW
GBP-EUR	1.1871	1.1598
GBP-USD	1.5424	1.5004
GBP-AED	5.6621	5.4922
GBP-BRL	3.4812	3.4272
GBP-EGP	8.4801	8.2256
GBP-TRY	2.4383	2.3651
EUR-USD	1.3032	1.2641
EUR - BRL	3.0086	2.9183
EUR-AED	4.7720	4.6288
USD-AED	3.6727	3.671
USD-EGP	5.5057	5.3405
AED-ZAR	2.6776	2.5972

 n.b these are just indication rates as of 8.30am on Wednesday 26th November 2008

• Sterling slipped against the dollar and yen on Wednesday, retreating from a two-week high against the U.S. currency due to falling stock markets.
  
• 
  

  One trader in London said an Asian central bank was seen buying sterling against the dollar, helping to lift the pound from its lows, shortly after China cut interest rates by 108 basis points.

  
  To keep up to date with currencies, please follow this link:

Currency News in the UK

Budget News and Currency Chart

CURRENCY TABLE

 Supplied Courtesy of Go Currency

Brown Takes U.K. ‘Back to the 70s’ With Tax, Debt Proposals
By Gonzalo Vina

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Gordon Brown swept aside three decades of economic orthodoxy with tax increases on the rich and plans that will double Britain’s national debt.

Brown’s proposals yesterday to mitigate fallout ... for the full story please follow this link:

Budget News November 2008

Courtesy: Bloomberg

Euro Declines Further

The euro declined against the dollar, the pound still in trouble
By aslanbash

Finance Information City
The euro fell against the dollar Friday after confirmation of the recession in the euro zone, while the pound sterling was changing to new records of weakness facing the single currency.

Towards 22H00 GMT (23H00 Paris), the euro bought 1.2591 dollars against 1.2779 the previous day.

It also address the declining yen at 122.24 yen against 124.84 the previous day.

The dollar fell face the yen to 97.06 yen against 97.67 Thursday evening.

The single currency has been weighed down by the confirmation of what economists feared the euro area went into recession for the first time since its inception in 1999, with a decline of 0.2% of its Gross Domestic Product in the third quarter the previous report.

"Preliminary data available for the fourth quarter suggest that the contraction of the economy is growing," warned economists at High Frequency Economics.

At the same time, inflation slowed to its lowest level for nine months in October, opening the door to future rate cuts in the euro area.

Zach Witton, Moody's Economy.com, the European Central Bank should cut interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 2.75% in December.

The traders also tried to anticipate the consequences for the currency markets of the G20 summit.

"The expectation by the markets of major announcements should continue to draw the frame of the next meetings," said Daragh Maher, Calyon.

"Nothing surprising is anticipated G20," he qualified, however, and "the dollar and the yen should remain on an upward slope even if temporary setbacks can be violent due to volatililité always at work market. "

From the U.S. side, the indicators have confirmed the fuel of consumer retail sales in October were the strongest decline since the launch of this index in 1992.

The pound sterling stood at weak levels seen over the past six years against the dollar, after touching the day before at a lower dollar for 1.4557 a pound, and the highest against the euro after a more low at 1.1545 euro for a book.

The British currency rose against the euro at 85.39 pence, but fell against the dollar to dollar for 1.4733 a pound.

The Swiss currency has regained ground against the euro at 1.5081 Swiss francs to one euro but fell against the dollar to 1.1976 Swiss francs to the dollar.

The Chinese yuan closed at 6.8250 yuan to one U.S. dollar against 6.8298 yuan on Thursday.

*********************

Forex Explained... Forex Rates
By Forex Specialist

Forex is an something that has been around for many years, but still many people don't understand its power, still many people don't see the great possibilities of this market. Those who know what Forex trading actually is just love it... they lova the excitement of expecting their forex profit and the way forex rates so often change in their interest.

It's really simple and everyone has already done it without even realizing it. If you've ever gone to a foreign country before and had to exchange currency in your bank, then you have been involved in Forex, but probably in a much less profitable, less exciting and less lucrative way.

Forex term comes from the word 'Foreign' and 'Exchange' and its simply participating in transactions involving currency exchange . Of course, there are some significant differences and benefits of forex trading through online brokers in comparison to a simple currency change during your vacation, but the basic principles are the same. Forex profitable opportunities are available 24 hours a day. Exchange rates are always fluctuating according to supply and demand and the economic and political influence in countries around the world.

Currency rates are forever fluctuating depending on supply and demand and economic and political influences in countries all over the world. The aim of any Forex trader is to spot which currency will next rise or fall in value against another currency.

Considering that profits can be both increases and decreases in the currency, this means that the Forex market is very attractive and potentially very lucrative for everyone who is willing to spend a little time.

As mentioned money can be made no matter whether a currency rises or falls, Forex is traded with a leverage which means if you trade with say $100 you do not get $100 of currency, you will get many times more than this perhaps as much as $40,000.dollars.

This does not mean you physically have $40,000 for a $100 deposit but rather that you can earn a percentage of that $40,000 if the currency fluctuates in your preferred direction.

Forex trading is trading with foreign currencies and benefit from currency fluctuations. It is surprisingly easy to learn Forex trading and start making profits, however, before rushing to invest money you must ensure that you fully understand the market.

Courtesy: Online Currency Broker | forex-rates.info

Pound Falls

Sterling continues to decline against the dollar and other major currencies
Saturday 15th November 2008

As sterling continues to fall in the foreign exchange markets there is real concern with the rate against the dollar down to $1.4715 and down to 84.7p against the Euro. There is real fear that sterling could yet fall further with interest rates likely to decline in the short term (Gordon Brown recently asked for a substantial cut) and the economy set to move into recession over the next few months.

The problem which the currency presents the government is the fact that imports, especially against the dollar, are very very expensive when you consider the rate has fallen back from over two dollars to the pound. This is the issue which many economists believe will force the UK into something of a major recession and possible depression with deflation coming to the head of the table. This would be a worse case scenario and literally see the UK economy collapse in a cloud of doom and gloom.

We recently saw major UK retailer Next Group announce that clothing was likely to rise in cost in the short term because of the currency exchange rate and the increased cost of goods from American. This has the potential to cause major upset with the UK economy although the government is in no situation to increase interest rates to protect the exchange rate which offers something of a quandary.

Courtesy: Punds - Euros - Dollars | financialadvice.co.uk

Euro dips below $1.25

11/11/08

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The euro drifted below $1.25 on Wednesday, dragged down by worldwide economic gloom and falling equity markets, before staging a slight recovery.

The 15-nation currency dropped to $1.2481, a level last seen in October 2006, before recovering to $1.2578 in European morning trading. That compared with its level of $1.2531 in New York late Tuesday.

The British pound slipped to $1.5392 from $1.5401, while the dollar edged up to 97.80 Japanese yen from 97.68 yen.

"Falling equity markets and global economic gloom mean traders are continuing to favor the greenback as a currency of choice," said analyst James Hughes of CMC Markets in London.

He said the pound could face pressure from economic reports due later Wednesday: the Bank of England's quarterly inflation report and new unemployment figures. Both could have a bearing on the bank's interest rate course.

"Clearly, monetary policy remains in focus so anything that points toward yet more cuts at the start of next month will have the potential to heap yet more pressure on the pound" and send it lower, he said.

Last week the Bank of England lowered its interest rate to 3 percent, a 50-year low. The European Central Bank cut its rate to 3.25 percent.

Lower interest rates can help prompt economic activity, but also typically drive investors away from a currency as they seek higher returns elsewhere.

Courtesy: pounds-euros-dollars | associatedpress | guardianuk

Dollar Versus the Euro

Dollar little changed versus euro after China plan
Reuters, Monday November 10 2008
By Vivianne Rodrigues

NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar was little changed against the euro on Monday after falling earlier in the session as news of a large economic stimulus package from China made some traders more willing to take on risk.

Courtesy: sneijers.net

Initial optimism quickly faded, however, as U.S. stocks surrendered early gains on concerns that China's plan may not be enough to help avert a global recession, helping the safe-haven yen regain some strength versus the greenback.
China launched an economic stimulus package on Sunday worth nearly $600 billion in what could mark the start of a round of big spending or interest rate cuts to stave off a recession in many countries.
"The initial reaction to the announcement … to read the full story, please follow this link:

Courtesy: UK Currency | Reuters

World Finance

Emerging economies want new role

The G20 says there must be a global solution to current problems

World finance chiefs are looking to increase the role of emerging nations, as part of reforms to tackle the current crisis.

Finance ministers and central bank presidents from the world's 20 major economies have been meeting at a G20 summit in Sao Paulo in Brazil.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said countries see the need for better coordination towards economic issues.

"All of us know it's a meeting at a time of historic challenge," he said.

"The food and fuel crises of the recent years have now been supplemented by the blow of a financial crisis. Virtually no country has escaped... all countries are moving into a danger zone."

'Developing country voices'

Emerging nations want to see the G20 grouping - which includes the G7 and the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) plus others - enhanced and also elevated to a heads-of-state and heads-of-government level, above the present finance ministerial status.

In October Mr Zoellick said the G20 system was "too unwieldy". In Brazil, he has now said that a new grouping of nations must emerge.

"We need to modernise the multilateral system to bring in the important developing country voices such as Brazil... I think over the next two years we are going to see some real changes to the global system," he said.

Brazil and other emerging-market nations do not feel that under the current set-up they have sufficient representation within bodies like the IMF and the World Bank.

France is suggesting bringing emerging economies on board as members of the G8 club of industrialized nations.

'Real change'

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said there was acceptance the G7 group of elite nations was no longer capable of working alone.

"It is time for a pact between governments to build a new financial architecture for the world," he said.

"This is a global crisis and it demands global solutions."

He said nations must "avoid temptations to take unilateral measures," and stressed that "new universal mechanisms are needed" that have to be worked out in concert.

"The crisis gives an opportunity for real changes," he said, adding: "We cannot, we must not and don't have the right to fail."

On Friday the Bric nations had called for reform of institutions like the IMF to give more influence to developing economies.

China and the Gulf states have trillions of dollars in reserves that could help the IMF help smaller countries withstand the present turmoil.

Courtesy: Currency UK | BBC News

Euro Poll

Euro poll question revealed
 

Mr Brown will examine euro case next year

The referendum question the UK may use if a vote is held on joining the euro has been published by the government.

The question, revealed in the government's draft euro referendum bill, is: "Should the United Kingdom adopt the euro as its currency?"

Gordon Brown announced the paving bill in his pre-Budget report speech to MPs.

Downing Street on Thursday played down suggestions that the bill meant Tony Blair wanted a referendum on the same day as a general election.

Vote coincidence?

The chancellor announced in June that the UK had yet to meet his five economic tests for joining the single currency.

The government says the new bill gives "maximum flexibility" over holding a referendum if the tests are passed.

Ian Davidson, chairman of Labour Against the Euro, said the bill included a clause specifically stating that a euro vote could be combined with an election.

 

The MP warned: "Plans to hold a euro referendum on the same day as a general election are another sign of desperation by the euro enthusiasts.

"In their zeal to bounce Britain into the euro, they are willing to place at risk Labour seats and votes.

"A Labour Party seeking re-election would be deeply divided in a referendum, while the Tories would be handed the bonus of a campaign in tune with the majority of British voters."

'Ruled out'

But Downing Street said the government's stance had not budged since Mr Blair was questioned about the idea in May.

He had told reporters: "I have never had the idea of holding a referendum on the same day as the general election."

A Number 10 spokesman said: "The position has not changed. It is pretty categorical in terms of ruling it out."

The timing of the draft bill's publication has prompted Conservatives to accuse ministers of trying use the diversion of the pre-Budget report on Wednesday to hide the "controversial" wording of the referendum.

Tory constitutional affairs spokesman Alan Duncan said: "The government are back to their old tricks of trying to 'bury bad news'.

"The proposed referendum question breaches Electoral Commission guidelines on fair wording. It makes no mention that the pound would be replaced if people vote 'yes'.

"A fair question would make clear the implications for our existing national currency.

"The government are using sleight of hand to hide a euro referendum fix."

'Guidelines followed'

Mr Brown has said he will reveal in his Budget next year whether he thinks there is a case for another assessment of possible UK-membership of the euro according to his five economic tests.

In his statement on the single currency to MPs in June, Mr Brown said four of the five tests had yet to be met - the one relating to financial services being the only one to get the chancellor's approval.

But he said progress on passing two of the tests - on economic flexibility and convergence with the eurozone - would lead to the remaining two tests being satisfied.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs said the question had been drafted using Electoral Commission guidelines.

The Commission - which has a statutory obligation to assess the question - will formally review it when the bill is introduced into Parliament.

That would only happen if the Treasury decided its convergence criteria had been met and the economic conditions were right for Britain to lose to the pound.

Cabinet and then Parliament would then have to approve the decision before it went out to the British people.

 

Courtesy: Currency Dollar / Pound | BBC News

Dollar Fall Against the Pound

Dollar Falls on Speculation Jobs Report Will Spur Fed Rate Cut
By Lukanyo Mnyanda and Stanley White

 Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell against the yen and the euro on speculation a government report will show the U.S. economy lost the most jobs since 2003, bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

The U.S. currency also declined versus the British pound as ... for the full story please follow this link:

Courtesy: Convert Currency UK | Bloomberg

Strong Dollar Policy

Obama win cements need for strong dollar policy
Reuters, Wednesday November 5 2008

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - With Democratic Senator Barack Obama headed to the White House, the U.S. dollar looks poised to continue its four-month rally over the coming months, especially if the new administration embraces a strong currency policy to help attract much-needed capital inflows.

Under Obama, the United States will have to sell a raft of new debt to maintain funding for two wars, pay for a massive bailout package aimed at unlocking tight credit markets and fund a potential second stimulus plan.

Attracting investors to new U.S. debt will be a top priority, and a strong dollar will be crucial in luring fresh cash into the United States.

To read the full story please follow this link:

Courtesy: Online Currency Exchange | guardian.co.uk | reuters

Obama Victory and Currency Changes Instantly

Dollar Gains Against Euro After Obama Victory in U.S. Election
By Stanley White

 Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar gained against the euro on speculation Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential election and Democrat gains in Congress will accelerate policies aimed at overcoming a recession.

The currency also rose against the British pound and the Australian dollar as television networks projected 338 electoral votes for Obama to 156 for Republican rival John McCain, who conceded defeat. To read the full story, please follow this link:

Online Currency Exchange

Courtesy: Euro Currency News | Bloomberg.com

Central Bank to the World

The Fed as a central bank to the world– Jacqueline Thorpe, Financial Post  Published: Sunday, November 02, 2008

The U.S. dollar's status as the main currency of international and central bank business has barely been tarnished by the whole sorry credit crisis.

Nicolas Sarkozy may be pushing for a new financial order but Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson have beaten him to it.

While the French President dreams of global economic cooperation ahead of the G20 summit in Washington, the Fed is quietly becoming central bank to the world, backed by the full might of the U.S. Treasury and a teflon-coated greenback.

Last week saw a new program added ... to read the full article, please visit this link:

Pounds Converter

News Courtesy: Euros | financialpost.com

Dollar's uptrend

Dollar's uptrend against rivals has dark side

By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
Last update: 6:00 a.m. EST Nov. 2, 2008

It was only July 15 that the euro hit a new record high of $1.6036 -- its loftiest level since the single European currency began trading in January 1999. Since then, it's dropped to trade at levels below $1.300.

In October alone, the euro as well as the British pound sterling fell more than 9% against the dollar, and the Australian dollar plunged more than 16% against the greenback. The Canadian dollar lost over 14%. As credit conditions tightened, equities sold off and fears of global recession rose, the resulting flight-to-safety flows favored the dollar over all but the even lower-yielding Japanese yen.

Cheaper imported goods - and therefore less inflation - may be good news for consumers here, but the resurgent greenback has a dark side, too. As worldwide economic growth slows, the stronger dollar makes exported American goods more expensive in overseas markets, and can hurt companies' global market share at a time when they can least afford to lose it.

The stronger currency also will discourage buyers holding other currencies from snapping up bargains at fire-sale prices, which is bad news for lenders hoping to unload all those foreclosed vacation homes.

"Europeans will no longer be looking at the U.S. housing market as a value. Now that the dollar is strong, it will sap foreign demand for U.S. goods which could slow the U.S. economy even further," said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT.

"An overly strong dollar at a time when growth is weak should be very concerning for the U.S. Treasury. They did not complain about the prior weakness in the dollar because they knew that a softer currency was needed to avert a deeper slowdown," she said.
To read the full article, please follow the link:

Courtesy: UK Currency Broker | marketwatch.com

Russia reserves drop past $500 bln as rescue takes off

By Gleb Bryanski

MOSCOW, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves fell below the $500 billion mark for the first time in eight months, data showed on Thursday, suggesting the Kremlin's cash is starting to flow into the economy.
The central bank data showed reserves fell $31 billion in the week to Oct. 24 to stand at $484.7 billion. Traders told Reuters the central bank spent only $13 billion propping up the rouble during the last week.
"A stunning one-week drop, more than twice the fall in the previous weeks," said Anna Zadornova from Goldman Sachs.
The rating agencies are closely watching Russia's reserves, which are dwindling as the central bank burns foreign currency in daily market interventions. Many analysts say such policy is unsustainable and Russia will soon devalue the rouble.
Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's, which cut Russia's outlook to negative from stable last week, warning of the costs of bailing out troubled banks and a rising risk of a budget deficit, declined to comment.
"The drop in reserves corresponds to a potential drop in the total foreign debt, so I do not see a drama there," said Yevgeny Nadorshin, analyst at Trust Bank.
The euro, which accounts for about 40 percent of Russia's reserves, weakened by 6 percent against the dollar, which accounts for about 49 percent. Sterling, which makes up about 10 percent of reserves, also weakened versus the U.S. unit.
That also contributed to the fall of reserves, whose total value is calculated in dollars.
UNDER ATTACK FROM POPULATION
Russia also plans to use $50 billion of its reserves to help corporations redeem their foreign debt. United Company RUSAL, owned by Russia's richest man Oleg Deripaska, on Wednesday became the first beneficiary, securing a $4.5 billion loan.
The government has also disbursed around $3 billion to billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group and state oil major Rosneft to help refinance their foreign debts.
The central bank plans to transfer the cash in small tranches to state-owned VEB bank, also known as Development Bank, tasked with administering the package. Reuters sources said VEB's board approved loans worth a total of $7.9 billion.
The central bank has spent tens of billions of dollars of its reserves since August to prevent the rouble from weakening beyond the 30.41 level against a euro-dollar basket.
Several of the western banks investing in Russia said last week they expect the central bank at some stage to allow the rouble to depreciate.
"We expect the central bank to continue to support the currency in the near term by defending the rouble in an effort to calm the population's fears ... and because it perceives itself to be under speculative attack from the markets," Goldman's Zadornova said.
From last week, the bank introduced daily limits on currency swap operations in a further bid to deter speculators from betting on a fall in the rouble. On Thursday, the day's swap limit was set at zero for the first time.
The central bank also told commercial banks to keep a lid on growth in their foreign currency denominated assets in a bid to stop currency speculation and a flight from rouble deposits, which accelerated sharply in October.
The central bank warned it will monitor the banks' compliance with the instruction and make decisions to grant individual banks collateral-free loans based on the results of the monitoring.
"We believe the currency is mainly under attack by the Russian population," said Zadornova.
The rouble gained four kopecks versus the currency basket to trade at 30.34 by 1255 GMT, possibly drawing some cheer from this week's resurgence on Moscow's bourses. (Additional reporting by Toni Vorobyova and Yelena Fabrichnaya) (Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Andy Bruce)

Courtesy: Currency Conversions Online | Reuters | guardian.co.uk

Currency News November

Australian dollar survives wild week
By Stephen Johnson | November 02, 2008

WATCHING the Australian dollar last week was like being on a rollercoaster ride after lunch.

The currency, known in foreign exchange markets as the  "Aussie'', dropped to a five-and-a-half year low on Tuesday as fears of a global recession spooked traders.

But two days later the resilient Aussie battler, the world's fourth most traded currency, had staged a 15 per cent comeback.

Optimistic market strategists say the Australian dollar is undervalued and could test US80c again by Christmas as a recovery in commodity prices and a renewed confidence in financial markets makes risk-sentiment currencies more attractive.

Conversely, a London-based currency strategist says that in a worse-case scenario the Australian dollar could sink to US40c, a level below the all-time low of US47.78c touched in April 2001.

To read the full story, please follow this link:

Courtesy: Online Currency | theaustralian.news.com.au

BOJ keeps hand out of currency jar
Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008 |

October despite the yen leaping to its strongest level in more than 13 years against the dollar, the Finance Ministry said.

The ministry did not conduct currency intervention via the Bank of Japan from Sept. 29 to Oct. 29, and hasn't done so since March 17, 2004.

On Oct. 24, the dollar briefly entered the upper ¥90 range in London for the first time in 13 years and two months as prospects darkened for the global economy.

The Group of Seven economies expressed concern about the yen's rapid appreciation versus the U.S. dollar and other major currencies in an emergency statement released Monday — at the request of the BOJ.

Currency policy is controlled by the Finance Ministry, with the Bank of Japan acting as its agent.

Tokyo conducted sales of more than ¥35 trillion in the 15 months from January 2003 through March 2004 to stem the yen's sharp rise against the dollar. A stronger yen hurts exports, the main engine of Japan's economic growth.

Courtesy: search.japantimes.co.jp | Currency Abroad

NT dollar enjoys biggest weekly gain since March
FOREIGN EXCHANGE: Although the NT dollar on Friday pared its solid advance for the week, it contributed to regional currency strength, an IDEAglobal analyst said

Sunday, Nov 02, 2008, Page 10

The New Taiwan dollar had the biggest weekly gain against the greenback in eight months on speculation governments around the world will provide further support measures to stem the deepening global economic slump.

The NT dollar gained 1.2 percent this week after the IMF said it has sufficient money available to meet current demand for loans from member nations. US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled he’s ready to cut the benchmark interest rate to the lowest level on record, after a half-point reduction to 1 percent.
 To read the full story, please follow this link:
Courtesy: Exchanging Money Abroad | Bloomberg | taipeitimes.com