Pacific Region Currencies Rising Against Dollar
Online, July 15, 2011 (Newswire.com) - While Europe and America work out their debt problems, the rest of the world is going about its business and showing steady growth. In particular, the countries of the Pacific are outpacing the rates of economic growth in both the US and Europe put together. For example, China has an annual GDP growth of 9.5% according to the latest data published. New Zealand is demonstrating impressive economic growth, by 1.5% and 0.8% in its yearly and quarterly terms, respectively, given analysts' initial, lower predictions of 1.2% and 0.4% growth, respectively. The New Zealand dollar jumped up one and a half against the dollar in trading in Sydney, from 0.8350 to 0.8500.
Meanwhile, the impression is forming in Europe that currency markets live isolated from one another, session to session. If the Pacific and Asian markets are completely positive, they will grow amid an escalation in appetite for risk: the AUD/USD pair rose from 1.0680 to 1.0740; the USD/JPY pair fell by 0.16%. Although the European and American currency markets are doing the opposite: avoiding risk and finding safe-havens in the Swiss franc and gold. The franc grew 0.36% against the dollar and 1.45% against the Euro, reaching record highs on both pairs (0.81 and 1.15, respectively). Gold is breaking one record after another, coming close to the psychologically important $1600 per troy ounce mark. Deep Trust Trading analysts reckon it is likely just a matter of time before gold breaks this sacred barrier.
Also stirring up the markets today were the ratings agencies Fitch and Moody's, which has its main headquarters in Washington, DC. Moody's again downgraded Greece's rating even farther beyond junk status, making it the lowest rated country in the world. Even Zimbabwe, with its out of control hyperinflation, looks more attractive for investors than this European country, at least from a speculative point of view. It doesn't take a seasoned investor to surmise that Standard & Poor's will also lower Greece's rating in the near future. It is for precisely this reason that there wasn't a chain reaction on the market because of the last decision from the two ratings agencies.
Today, Deep Trust Trading analysts await publication of data on retail sales in the US for the month of June: -0.1% versus -0.2% in May, and 0.4% growth, after deducting automobile sales and fuel, versus 0.3% in May.
Deep Trust Trading Analytical Department