It looks to be a relatively quiet day in forex trading. Even so, the US dollar is mostly lower in forex trading today — although it isn’t much changed against other major currencies.
Conflicting data has confused the situation a bit. On the one hand, there is optimism that the US economy is finally ready to pick things up. Recent labor market data was encouraging, and other economic data has been showing promise.
Additionally, there is hope that, this time, European leaders will be ready to agree on a bailout package. A German government party referendum has indicated that they are in favor of a bailout package, so that should increase the changes of something being presented by December 19.
However, there are still concerns about the fundamentals in the eurozone. These worries are still adding some uncertainty to the picture, and demand for the US dollar could skyrocket. Indeed, there is still some solid demand for dollars right now, as shown by the increase in the spread between overnight index swaps and the
So, underneath the optimism, is still quite a bit of caution and worry.
At 15:40 GMT EUR/USD is higher at 1.3040, up from the open at 1.3016. GBP/USD is also higher at 1.5519, up from the open at 1.5515. USD/JPY is lower at 77.7885, down from the open at 77.8595.
If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the US Dollar,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.