because there is not much to see in the markets, the following article gives a good summary of todays market actions ...
By Bradley Davis Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)
--The euro Thursday climbed to its strongest level against the dollar in more than a month on the heels of a well-received auction of Spanish government debt and amid speculation the U.S. will initiate another round of economy-stimulating asset purchases.
The dollar, meanwhile, held onto its sharp gains against the yen a day after Japan's massive intervention to strangle the recent strength in its currency.
Japan's estimated Y2 trillion intervention has left currency investors cautious, with Japanese officials saying more action could be on the table to stem yen strength.
Thursday afternoon, the euro was at $1.3070, up from $1.3012 late Wednesday, according to EBS via CQG. It was down from its intraday high of $1.3117, the highest since Aug. 11, but still around 0.5% higher on the day. The dollar was at Y85.75, up from Y85.63, while the euro was at Y112.08, up from Y111.36. The U.K. pound was at $1.5624, up from $1.5623. The dollar was at CHF1.0143, up from CHF1.0035.
The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, was at 81.285, down from 81.453.
The euro notched a gain against the dollar after a well-received auction of Spanish government debt Thursday helped allay fears over the region's sovereign-debt crisis. The successful auction comes on the back of well-received sales earlier this week in Italy and Greece.
Investors may also see the euro as a sensible temporary safety play, said Alan Ruskin, global head of G-10 foreign-exchange strategy at Deutsche Bank in New York.
As concerns mount the U.S. economy is mired in a slow patch--which the Federal Reserve could try to power through with new rounds of asset purchases, known as quantitative easing--and with investors cautious about any further moves by Japan to temper yen strength after Wednesday's intervention, the euro might offer the best opportunity to express anti-dollar sentiment, Ruskin said.
But "long-term sentiment toward the euro is still very negative," Ruskin said, with the common currency unlikely to muster a gain beyond $1.35.
The euro, along with the dollar, also shot higher against the Swiss franc, each gaining more than 1%, after the Swiss National Bank on Thursday left key interest rates unchanged, noting weakening inflation and a slowdown in growth for the rest of 2010 and in 2011.
Meanwhile, China's move toward a more flexible exchange rate has been "too slow," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in Senate testimony Thursday, even as U.S. lawmakers pushed for more aggressive action to respond to Beijing's policies. Geithner was scheduled also to testify before the House Thursday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, China's yuan rose to another high against the U.S. dollar. The yuan was at 6.7242 to the dollar in late trading, the Chinese currency's strongest level since it began trading in 1994 and the fourth consecutive session in which the yuan hit a record intraday high.
Japan's currency policy now puts another issue on Geithner's table.
With China's currency policy facing increasing scrutiny from U.S. officials, Geithner's testimony is unlikely to change Japan's new interventionist stance, said Steven Barrow, head of G-10 strategy at Standard Bank in London
"Stealing competitiveness from your peers can't be well-received from Geithner and others," he said. Still, "it likely won't change anything with the dollar-yen," short term, because Japan has already started down the intervention path.
After Wednesday's intervention, one of Japan's biggest daily yen-selling, dollar-buying interventions, Prime Minister Naoto Kan reiterated Thursday that the country will continue to intervene in the market when necessary, keeping the dollar in a tight range against the yen as cautious investors avoid the currency pair.
Separately, the Russian ruble extended losses Thursday to close at its lowest levels since February, with analysts expecting the central bank to intervene to prop up the currency.
-By Bradley Davis, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2654; [email protected]
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