Euro Gains on Dollar
Apr 29th, 2009 | By Doug Casey | Category: US Dollar & Forex TradingIn the currency market, the dollar slipped against the euro. Late Tuesday, the euro was trading at $1.3141 vs. $1.3039 on Monday.
Traders were squaring long U.S. dollar positions ahead of Wednesday’s Fed decision and first-quarter GDP release, according to Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK).
“The event risk of these events may limit appetite for fresh U.S. dollar exposures, with renewed U.S. dollar buying likely to resume if first-quarter GDP disappoints or the Fed announces further QE [quantitative easing] measures,” Woolfolk said.
The day’s numbers provided some support for an expansion of risk.
The Conference Board reported that its U.S. consumer confidence index jumped to a reading of 39.2 in April from 26.9 in March. The month-over-month gain was the fourth-largest ever in the 32-year history of the survey.
At the same time, Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller home price index declined in February, as home prices in 20 major cities fell 2.2%. But that was good news of sorts, since it was less than the 2.8% drop in January. It was also the first time in 16 months that the year-over-year decline in prices did not set a record.
For what it may be worth, prices are “no longer falling off a cliff,” wrote Patrick Newport, of IHS Global Insight. “Instead, they are rolling down a steep hill.”
Source: Euro Gains on Dollar
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