The euro produced mixed results against its major counterparts on the first trading day of the New Year. This came after China’s positive economic data, released over the weekend, overshadow eurozone’s manufacturing PMI, confirmed at 46.9. Versus the US dollar, the single currency closed the day at 1.2936 having earlier peaked at 1.2971. Against the Australian dollar, the euro dropped to 1.2617 from 1.2653, recording a fresh all-time low at 1.2613. Versus the Swiss franc, the single currency rose to 1.2155 from 1.2146. The ECB settled EUR 462 million in bond purchases last week, as Joerg Asmussen and Benoit Coeure replaced Juergen Stark and Lorenzo Bini-Smaghi on the central bank’s Executive Board.
The US dollar was softer against a basket of currencies as moderate optimism in the markets induced “risk on” buying. A series of economic US data will be the focus for this week, starting today with ISM Manufacturing PMI. This will be followed by the release of the FOMC Minutes where investors will anticipate signs of a new round of quantitative easing. In any case the main event for this week will be the non-farm payroll data on Friday. Versus the Japanese yen, the US dollar moved down to 76.94 from 77.06.
The Australian dollar rose to 1.0250 from 1.0227 against the US dollar, as overall risk appetite benefited the high-yielding currency. The British pound made a positive start for the year versus the US dollar, rising up to 1.5519 from 1.5503.
Oil prices jumped to 99.98 dollars a barrel from 98.88. Gold rose to 1572.10 dollars an ounce from 1568.30. Silver moved up to 28.1555 dollars an ounce from 27.83.
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