EU Morning Report-Euro plunges on Moody’s downgrades

The US dollar strengthened against its major counterparts after Moody’s rating cuts. The dollar versus the Japanese yen advanced during today’s Asian session following the Bank of Japan monetary policy meeting. The BoJ surprised investors after it announced it would ease its monetary policy by asset purchasing to beat deflation and boost the economy. The pair climbed as high as 78.00 from 77.36 traded yesterday. Against the Swiss franc, the greenback rose as high as 0.9197 from 0.9102. Investors focus on US Retail sales later today for any signs of economic recovery.

The British pound fell against the greenback today after Moody’s warned the UK could lose its triple-A credit rating. Moody’s expressed concerns that the heavily indebted country is vulnerable to the eurozone debt crisis and even though the UK is outside the euro area the risk of further shocks to its economy is heightened. Versus the dollar, sterling slid to 1.5685 from 1.5736. Eyes turn to today’s inflation data from the UK.

Oil prices jumped to 100.87 dollars a barrel from 98.75. Gold edged lower to 1714.72 dollars an ounce recovering from 1732.88. Gold rose to 1308.27 euro an ounce from 1305.17. Silver edged lower to 33.43 dollars an ounce from 34.00.