EU Morning Report - Euro is strong

The euro emerged stronger against its major counterparts amid a plethora of pessimistic reports. There was no breakthrough whatsoever in the ongoing Greek tragedy, with yet another postponement for the nation’s leaders to answer troika’s latest austerity measure requests. Versus the US dollar, the single currency advanced to 1.3247 from 1.3118, recording its higher 2012 value. Against the Swiss franc, the euro rose to 1.2087 from 1.2062. This came after SNB’s Interim Governor, Jordan, reiterated the determination of the nation’s central bank to defend the 1.20 floor set on EURCHF. Versus the Australian dollar, the euro recorded an all time low at 1.2130, only to fight back and end the day with gains at 1.2269 from 1.2234.

The US dollar was softer against a basket of currencies after Consumer Credit figures came out better than expected. Yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke testified on the state of the US economy before the Senate Budget Committee. He called for major changes in the US fiscal planning, labeling the federal deficit unsustainable. Furthermore, he defended the Fed’s choice for low rates until 2014 and said that even though there are enough jobs to employ new entrants to the labour market, influential actions are still needed to lower the unemployment rate.

The Australian dollar advanced to 1.0793 from 1.0718 versus the US dollar. The decision of the Reserve Bank of Australia to leave its lending rate untouched against the consensus of a 25 basis points cut, saw the pair climb to a 6-month high at 1.0809.

Oil prices rose to 98.37 dollars a barrel from 97.14. Gold climbed to 1744.94 from 1719.95 an ounce against the US dollar. Versus the euro, gold jumped to 1316.26 from 1310.15. Silver advanced to 34.0844 from 33.6377 dollars an ounce.

Equities	EUROPE		US		ASIA3
	FTSE 100	-0.03%			S&P 500	0.20%			NIKKEI	1.10%
	DAX	-0.16%			DJIA	0.26%			HIS	1.23%
	CAC	0.18%			NASDAQ	0.07%			CSI 300	2.85%