The dollar is losing ground against all of its major competitors at the start of the new trading week. There were no U.S. economic reports to drive the direction of trading today. Investors will be looking forward to the release of the U.S. retail sales report for May on Thursday, as well as the weekly jobless claims report and import & export prices. Consumer sentiment and PPI are also on tap for Friday.
Greece remained in focus amid reports that its creditors are losing patience with the country’s uncompromising and incomprehensible stance on its debt obligations.
The Greek government and creditors resumed their talks in Brussels on Monday after the both parties failed to reach an agreement on deal last week.
Negotiations to address the differences on proposals are inevitable as Greece cannot make further repayment without new external funds.
Greece asked the International Monetary Fund last week to bundle the four payments due to the lender this month, totaling 1.6 billion euros, into a single payment. IMF rules permit Greece to opt for bundling its loan repayments
Athens has to reach a consensus with lenders to free up bailout fund and avert a default before the June 30 deadline.
The French economy is expected to sustain its growth momentum in the second quarter as industrial production and services activity is set to continue expansion in June, survey data from the Bank of France showed Monday.
The bank retained its growth projection for the second quarter at 0.3 percent. In the first quarter, the economy had expanded 0.4 percent.
The dollar began Monday’s session around $1.1090 against the Euro, but has dropped to around $1.2750 this afternoon.
Eurozone investor confidence declined to a four-month low in June, survey data from the think tank Sentix showed Monday. The investor confidence index fell to 17.1 in June from 19.6 in May. This was the lowest reading since February, when the score was 12.4. The reading was above the expected score of 18.9.
Germany’s exports increased unexpectedly in April and industrial production rebounded at a faster-than-expected pace suggesting that the economy has not lost its steam.
Exports rose a seasonally and calender-adjusted 1.9 percent month-on-month in April, faster than previous month’s 1.3 percent increase, provisional data from Destatis showed Monday.
This was the third consecutive rise in exports and came in contrast to a 0.4 percent drop forecast by economists.
Meanwhile, imports fell 1.3 percent in April from the prior month, in contrast to economists’ expectations for a 0.5 percent rise. It was the first decrease in three months. In March, imports grew 2.4 percent.
Elsewhere, industrial production expanded 0.9 percent month-on-month in April, reversing a revised 0.4 percent fall in March, another report showed today. It was larger than an expected 0.5 percent increase and also the biggest growth seen so far this year.
The United Kingdom’s growth outlook was downgraded largely due to weaker-than-expected first quarter gross domestic product growth, the Confederation of British Industry showed Monday.
The business group lowered the growth outlook for this year to 2.4 percent from 2.7 percent predicted in February. For 2016, the growth forecast was lowered to 2.5 percent from the previous estimate of 2.6 percent. Growth in 2014 was 2.8 percent.
British economic growth is set to sustain its solid growth momentum, but the country’s high debt burden is likely to remain a weakness, which is unlikely to drop before 2017, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report on Monday.
The rating agency forecast real GDP to increase 2.7 percent and 2.4 percent this year and next, respectively.
The buck rose to an early high of $1.5221 against the pound sterling this morning, but has since retreated to around $1.5330.
The greenback pulled back slightly from a multi-year high of around Y125.800 at the end of the prior trading week and has slipped to around Y124.600 this afternoon.
Japan’s gross domestic product expanded 3.9 percent on year in the first quarter of 2015, the Cabinet Office said in the revised report released on Monday. This was well above of forecasts for 2.8 percent growth and up from the February 15 preliminary reading of a 2.4 percent rise.
Japan’s current account surplus declined in April compared to the previous month and came below economists’ expectations, data from the Ministry of Finance showed Monday. A reversal in the balance of trade to a deficit from a surplus impacted the current account balance.
Current account surplus fell to JPY 1,326 billion in April from JPY 2,795 billion in the previous month. Economists had expected a surplus of JPY 1,687.4 billion. In April 2014, the current account surplus was JPY 220.8 billion.
A measure of peoples’ assessment of the Japanese economy declined unexpectedly in May, after improving in the previous five months, survey figures from the Cabinet Office showed Monday. The current index of the Economy Watchers’ survey dropped by 0.3 points to 53.3 in May from 53.6 in April. Economists had expected the index to climb to 54.0. It was the first decline in six months.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com