Central banks underpin euro and diversify toward "other currencies"

What's Up, What's Down: Spotlight on Currencies
CURRENCIES: 1/3/11 Higher closes for the last trading day of the year, for the Japanese Yen,Euro Fx, Swiss Franc, Aussie Dollar, British Pound and Canadian Dollar while lower for The Dollar index.The euro and franc settled higher with the franc making a new CONTRCT HIGH AND CLOSE while the euro is now close to a buy signal. Also the swiss/ euro spreading continues to work. The yen made best high and close since Nov. 11th(higher 11 trading sessions in a row) but now in a resistance area. The Cana...

Asia shares rise, oil near 27-month high on data
By Sanjeev Miglani Singapore | Mon Jan 3, 2011 11:19pm EST Singapore (Reuters) - Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday and oil hovered near a 27-month high, supported by U.S. data suggesting a recovery in the world's biggest economy was gathering momentum. Japanese shares hit a 7- high on Tokyo's first trading session of the New Year, a day after the United States reported Manufacturing grew at its fastest clip in seven months in December. U.S. stocks hit new two-year highs overnight. .N The next ...

Dollar climbs at start of 2011 on hopes for growth
The dollar climbed broadly Monday at the start of a new year on hopes that U.S. Economic Growth will accelerate in 2011. U.S. Stock Markets also rose 1 percent or more after a key U.S. Manufacturing survey said growth rose last month to its fastest pace since May. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group, said its index of Manufacturing activity rose to 57 in December from 56.6 in November. Any reading over 50 indicates growth. New orders, a gauge of future factory activity, also jumpe...

Dollar climbs at start of 2011 on hopes for growth
That suggests that the broader economy grew at an annual rate of about 4 to 4.5 percent, said Capital Economics analyst Paul Ashworth. The U.S. economy grew 2.6 percent in the July-September quarter. In late trading in New York, the Euro dropped to $1.3364 from $1.3367 late Friday. The British pound dropped to $1.5491from $1.5590, while The Dollar rose to 81.65 Japanese Yen from 81.21 yen. Seventeen European nations use the Euro after Estonia on Saturday adopted the common currency. It has dro...

Asia factory output powers ahead but inflation worries
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Asian factory output powered ahead in December to underline Emerging Markets' lead in the global recovery although data showed an increasing Inflation threat in the region even as growth is tepid in developed economies. Purchasing managers' indexes in both China and India fell but also showed that the pace of factory output was still expanding solidly. The sectors in both countries have been growing for close to two years. South Korea's factories posted their strongest growth ...

Euro opens 2011 up on dollar
The euro opened the new year up on the U.S. dollar and one country stronger, after Estonia adopted the currency. The common European currency, now used by 17 nations, bought $1.3297 in early Monday trading, up from $1.3286 at the end of last week. The British pound rose to $1.5498 on the first day of trading in 2011, up from $1.5415 at the end of last year. The Dollar continued to slide against the Japanese Yen, dipping to 81.32 yen from 81.52 yen last Friday. Estonia on Saturday became the late...

Asian stocks rise following upbeat US, Europe data
TOKYO (AP) - Asian stocks rose Tuesday as optimism about a global recovery got a perk from positive U.S. and European data. Markets in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and mainland China reopened after the New Year's holiday to start trading in 2011. Oil Prices hovered below $92 a barrel in Asia near a two-year high as a Stock Market rally to start 2011 boosted crude trader optimism. In currencies, The Dollar was up against the yen and the euro. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 1.7 percent t...

Gold gives up a little with dollar mixed
Gold jumped to near record prices Friday, climbing briefly above $1,420 per troy ounce. On Monday, gold shed $6.70 to $1,414.70 per troy ounce. February deliver Crude Oil prices added 16 cents to $91.54 per barrel. The Dollar on Monday the dollar gained ground against the euro, the pound and the yen with the euro falling to $1.3357 from Friday's $1.337. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 81.70 yen from Friday's 81.22 yen. Against the the Hong Kong dollar, the U.S. dollar fell to 7.7703 HKD from...

Asia factory output powers ahead but inflation worries
By Tony Munroe Mumbai | Mon Jan 3, 2011 4:08am EST Mumbai (Reuters) - Asian factory output powered ahead in December to underline Emerging Markets' lead in the global recovery although data showed an increasing Inflation threat in the region even as growth is tepid in developed economies. Purchasing managers' indexes in both China and India fell but also showed that the pace of factory output was still expanding solidly. The sectors in both countries have been growing for close to two years. ...

Governments Help Markets Score Big in 2010...
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Eurozone inflation above bank target in December
Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said consumer price Inflation jumped 2.2 percent in the year to December, its highest level since October 2008. The increase from November's 1.9 percent rate was markedly ahead of expectations—the consensus in the markets was for a far more modest increase to 2 percent. A more detailed breakdown of the Figures Will be published later this month, but all indications are that higher energy and commodity costs are likely to have been behind the bigger tha...

Eurozone inflation above bank target in December
Consumer prices in the 16 countries that used the euro at the end of 2010 rose by more than anticipated, and Inflation is now running above the European Central Bank's target. Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said Tuesday that consumer prices jumped 2.2 percent in the year to December, up from November's 1.9 percent rate, and ahead of analysts' expectations for a more modest increase to 2 percent. December's rate means Inflation in the Eurozone ended 2010 above the Central Bank's target of ...

2011: Year of the bank run?
Irish bank deposits declined in November for the fourth straight month, the Central Bank said last week. Overseas deposits fled the country at their fastest pace in more than a year. The deposit flight compounds the stress on a Financial System whose massive property-lending losses already have driven the government to accept an unpopular Bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Worse yet, it shows that the solutions policymakers slapped together in the fall of 2008 h...

2011: Year of the bank run?
2011: Year of the bank run? Posted by Colin Barr January 3, 2011 6:27 am Is a bank run about to bring Europe to its knees? Some market watchers say yes, pointing ominously to the torrents of money pouring out of Ireland. Not such a good bet Irish bank deposits declined in November for the fourth straight month, the Central Bank said last week. Overseas deposits fled the country at their fastest pace in more than a year. The deposit flight compounds the stress on a Financial System whose ma...

Stocks poised to extend gains
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were poised to follow world markets higher Tuesday, building on the previous session's big rally. Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and NASDAQ (COMP) futures were higher ahead of the opening bell. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance. Email Print Comment Stocks started the year off strong Monday, with the Dow closing at a fresh two-year high, after Manufacturing and construction reports stoked investor...

Stocks poised to start year higher
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were poised to kick off the new year with gains Monday, as investors return from the holidays and await a key report on Manufacturing. Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and NASDAQ (COMP) futures were higher ahead of the opening bell. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance. Stocks ended a rollercoaster year with a lackluster showing Friday, but all three major indexes logged double-digit gains for the ye...

Feds claim dollar will rise in 2011
Never mind the lackluster economy, the huge Trade Deficit or the government’s piles of Debt: The U.S. dollar is still expected to outperform most of the world’s major currencies next year. “By all rights, The Dollar should be declining in value, but it’s not,” says Eswar Prasad, Economics Professor at Cornell University. “For The Dollar to decline in value, you must have currencies on the other side that will” rise. Bad as things are in the United States...

Commodities: The bull that won't die - The Buzz
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Gold, oil and other commodities enjoyed a stellar run in 2010. The party may not be over just yet ... but investors have to be wary. Several experts say that the main forces behind the bull run in commodities last year, namely strong economies in Emerging Markets coupled with worries about the health of the U.S. and Europe, are likely to remain in place this year. Email Print Comment Concerns about the Sovereign Debt crisis in Europe and the slow grind of a recovery in t...

Stocks Start 2011 With A Lift
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks started 2011 with a lift Monday thanks to better than expected economic news out of Europe. Shares rose throughout Europe after a report showed that Manufacturing in the Eurozone expanded faster than analyst’s forecasts. The Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.8 percent. Benchmark indexes in France, Spain, and Germany each gained more than 1.1 percent. Investors will get reports on Manufacturing growth and construction spending in the U.S. on Monday as well. Economists ...

UK think tank gives the chance of Euro lasting next decade at 20%
Centre for Economics and Business Research, has given the Euro long odds. Much worse odds than even the most pessimistic. They have pinned the odds of the Euro lasting the decade at 20%, or in other words, it has an 80% chance of failure. Via Telegraph: In its annual list of predictions, the CEBR said a new Eurozone crisis was its number one forecast for 2011, citing the hundreds of billions of euros of Debt that members must replace this year. "If the euro doesn't break up, this could be the ...

Stocks start 2011 with a lift
NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks started 2011 with a lift Monday thanks to better than expected economic news out of Europe. Shares rose throughout Europe after a report showed that Manufacturing in the Eurozone expanded faster than analyst's forecasts. The Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.8 percent. Benchmark indexes in France, Spain, and Germany each gained more than 1.1 percent. Investors will get reports on Manufacturing growth and construction spending in the U.S. on Monday as well. Economists expect tha...

Asia shares rise, oil near 27-month high on data
Singapore (Reuters) - Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday and oil hovered near a 27-month high, supported by U.S. data suggesting a recovery in the world's biggest economy was gathering momentum. Japanese shares hit a 7- high on Tokyo's first trading session of the New Year, a day after the United States reported Manufacturing grew at its fastest clip in seven months in December. U.S. stocks hit new two-year highs overnight. .N The next big test for the U.S. economy comes later this week when the ...

World stocks rise following upbeat US, Europe data
TOKYO (AP) - World stocks were mostly higher Tuesday as optimism about a global recovery was boosted by positive U.S. and European data. Markets in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and mainland China reopened after the New Year's holiday to start trading in 2011. Oil Prices hovered below $92 a barrel in Asia near a two-year high as a Stock Market rally to start 2011 boosted crude trader optimism. In currencies, The Dollar was up against the yen and the euro. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average close...

Oil rises above $92, reaching 2-year high
Oil prices rose to two-year highs Monday, at above $92 a barrel, sparked by a weaker dollar and renewed optimism that a rebounding U.S. economy will lead an increase in the global demand for crude. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for February delivery was up 84 cents to $92.22 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.54 to settle at $91.38 on Friday. "The latest U.S. economic data have created optimism that economic activity is gainin...

Economic Themes at the Start of 2011
3.  China’s Economic Growth appears to be moderating.  The official Dec Manufacturing ISM eased to 53.9 from 55.2 in November and compares with consensus expectations of around 55.5.  The results were in line with the private measure released last week.  The moderation was widespread including output, new orders and employment.  New export orders bucked the general trend and ticked up to 53.5 from 53.2.  Just as important, if not more so, input prices eased (t...