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Monday, March 11, 2013

Dollar Reaches High As U.S. Growth Picks Up

Prospects that data, to be released in the next couple of days, will show a gain in retail sales, and on the back recent reports that showed that the U.S jobless rate has dropped and payrolls have risen, has seen the greenback rise by 0.1% to 96.12 Yen, close to its highest level since August 2009. The Dollar hit $1.2998 per Euro from $1.3005 on Friday.
 
Labor Department data released on Friday showed that employers in the U.S. had added 236,000 jobs in February, for the third monthly rise above 200,000 in four months. This pushed down the jobless rate to a 4 Year low of 7.7%.

The Commerce Department is due to release figures on Wednesday that are expected to show, that sales at U.S. retailers have likely risen by 0.5% in February having gained by 0.1% in January.

The Yen lost 0.1% to 124.94 per Euro from Friday, close to its lowest level in 3 weeks, after Japan's machine orders dropped more than expected and after the nominee for central bank governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, had said in a report today that current monetary easing efforts are not enough to fend off deflation.

As the stock markets also continue to show resilience, many traders are gaining a higher risk appetite and we are seeing a weaker Yen as a result.

From Europe, the focus is also on the Italian gross domestic product (GDP) which is expected to have declined 0.9% in the fourth quarter. The final reading is to be released today.

Political risks in Italy, after recent deadlocked elections, also show no signs of receding and the growth outlook for the Euro region has been deteriorating further, which is set to weigh on the Euro in the near term.
 
The Pound has also been under pressure having declined to a 2 1/2-year low to the Dollar and having dropped against the Euro, as investors remain concerned that U.K. policy makers are still struggling to avoid an unprecedented triple-dip recession.

Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected suggestions that cutting taxes or raising spending would help the economy. He has called on the Bank of England to assist with growth.

I expect sterling to remain under pressure in the next few days and for it to even possibly weaken toward $1.46 in the next few weeks.
 

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