The dollar is losing ground against all of its major competitors Tuesday. Economic data remains on the light side today, keeping some investors on the sidelines. There are several important U.S. reports due to be released later this week. Retail sales are slated for Wednesday, PPI is scheduled for Thursday and industrial production is out at the end of the week.
A Greek central bank official told Reuters the country had to empty an emergency International Monetary Fund holding account to repay 750 million euros due to the international lender.
Reuters said the move allowed Greece to avoid default but underscores the dire state of the country’s finances as it continues to try to strike a deal with its creditors.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told reporters the financial situation of the country is a terribly urgent issue. “We are talking about the next couple of weeks.”
Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem welcomed the progress in Greece talks but he said more time is needed to bridge the remaining gaps and to reach a comprehensive agreement.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and we stand ready to meet as soon as the institutions confirm that there is a basis for a successful conclusion,” Dijsselbloem said in a statement on Monday in Brussels after the meeting of Eurozone finance ministers.
“There are time constraints and liquidity constraints, hopefully we will reach an agreement before time runs out and before money runs out,” he said.
The dollar dropped to a low of $1.1278 against the Euro Tuesday morning, but has climbed back to around $1.1225 this afternoon.
German business insolvencies continued to decline in February, the Federal Statistical Office said Tuesday. Local courts reported 1,879 business insolvencies in February, down 8.2 percent from last year. The last annual increase was reported in December 2014, when it rose 8.1 percent.
The French economy will grow 0.3 percent in the second quarter, according to the monthly index of business activity released by the Bank of France.
The buck has extended its losing streak against the pound sterling to a sixth session Tuesday, sinking to over a 4-month low of $1.5710. The U.S. currency traded around the $1.5000 level, before the losing streak began.
U.K. industrial production unexpectedly grew in March for a second straight month, led by a robust gain in oil and gas extraction and stronger manufacturing output, giving some respite from concerns of a slowdown in the economic growth momentum.
Industrial production rose 0.5 percent from February, when it edged up 0.1 percent, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Tuesday. Economists had forecast stagnation for the month. The latest growth rate was the strongest since September last year, when production grew 0.6 percent.
UK economic growth quickened in the three months to April from the March quarter, monthly gross domestic product estimates from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research showed Tuesday.
Output grew by 0.4 percent in the three months ending in April after growth of 0.3 percent in the three months to March.
“We expect the slight softening of GDP growth experienced in the first quarter of this year to be temporary and forecast the UK economy will expand by 2.5 per cent for the year as a whole,” the think tank said.
The greenback has fallen to around Y119.950 against the Japanese Yen this afternoon, from an early high of Y120.270.
The leading index for Japan, which measures the future economic activity, increased as expected in March, preliminary figures from the Cabinet Office showed Tuesday. The leading index rose to 105.5 in March from 104.7 in the previous month. The figure was also matched with economists’ expectations.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com