News Financial

The greenback edged higher

The greenback edged higher across the board amid a dearth of fresh US economic news. Earlier comments from St Louis Fed President Poole buoyed the dollar after he said it was too soon to determine whether the sharp housing deterioration will drag the economy into recession. Traders will look to Thursday’s comments from Fed Chairman Bernanke for more insight into how aggressively the FOMC will be ease rates over the coming months.

Euro Slumps on German Data

The euro fell to 1.4641 against the dollar on the heels of soft Eurozone economic data. Reports from Germany revealed deteriorating economic conditions, with industrial production in November posting a 0.9% decline, missing estimates for a 0.5% rise and worsening from the 0.3% drop in October. Germany’s exports fell by 0.5%, reversing the 0.6% increase a month earlier, while imports dropped 3.0% from an increase of 0.2% in October. Retail sales sharply disappointed forecasts, raising fears that conditions in the Eurozone’s largest economy may be quickly fading. The November retail sales report fell short of calls for a 1.1% increase, instead declining by 1.3%, albeit better that the 2.3% decline in the previous month. On an annualized basis, retail sales tumbled by 3.2% versus a 0.6% decline a year earlier.

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