FEATURE
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20 - 26 March 2014 / Mallorca
EWN
35
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Another useful week for the euro Commentary by Moneycorp
EUR Another useful week for the euro kept it steady against the US dollar and took it a cent higher against sterling, which investors viewed with steadily less affection. A string of low-key Euroland economic indicators played no part: investors were more interested by the European Central Bank’s decision last week to hold back from bond-buying or rate-cutting. USD Stronger than expected US employment figures were vaguely helpful to the dollar but investors were left with the nagging feeling that they ought to
have been even better. They were happy to send the dollar a cent and a half higher against sterling but they left it unchanged against the euro. In the coming week the focus will be on the Federal Reserve and whether it decides to continue the wind-down of moneyprinting stimulus. CAD The Canadian dollar’s brief spurt of luck was exhausted, leaving it steady against sterling and down by three quarters of a US cent. The Loonie’s main problem was weak Canadian employment data, including the unexpected loss of 7,000 jobs in February. They were
Clarisse Musselwhite is Moneycorp’s Account Manager for Mallorca
She can be contacted on Tel: +34 902 887 243 Mobile: +34 687 932 472 Email:mallorca@moneycorp.com
902887243 mallorca@moneycorp.com doubly disappointing because their announcement coincided with equivalent figures from the States, which showed stronger than expected jobs growth. AUD The Aussie had only a slightly more difficult week than sterling, which has fallen from investors’ favour in the last couple of weeks. It was quarter of a cent lower against the pound and down
by nearly one US cent. The Australian dollar faded despite much stronger than expected Australian employment data which showed 47,000 more people in work and a significant swing from part-time to full-time employment. NZD Yet another good week for the NZ dollar took it half a cent higher against the US dollar and two and a half cents higher against sterling. A decent increase in manufacturing sales and a 2.1 per cent annual rise for house prices helped, but it was the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s monetary policy decision that did most of the work. The RBNZ raised its benchmark interest rate to 2.75 per cent and said further increases were in the pipeline.