Euro Briefly Touches 11.5 Year Low Against USD, Non-Farm Payroll Numbers Due Out Today
March 6, 2015 7:08 am
The Dollar held pole position in Asia on Friday as bulls wagered a looming U.S. jobs report might add to the chance of rate hikes, even as the European Central Bank embarks on a trillion Euro campaign of bond-buying. U.S. stocks closed modestly higher in light trading on Thursday as investors held back on big bets ahead of Friday’s jobs report, which is expected to be a big factor in influencing the timing of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike. The Dow rose 38 points to close at 18,135, the S&P500 gained 2 points to close at 2,101.
With yield spreads widening in the Dollar’s favour, the Euro broke below $1.1000 for the first time since September 2003, but has since drifted back to $1.1025. The Dollar was also firm on the Yen, trading around the 120.00 level.
In commodity markets, U.S. crude was quoted 34 cents firmer at $51.10, while Brent crude gained 47 cents to $60.95 a barrel. Spot gold prices were little changed at $1,199.30 an ounce.
Thomas Cook has announced a new strategic partnership with investment group Fosun International which will see the latter take a 5% stake in the travel operator. Fosun is investing £91.8m for the issue of over 73.1m shares, and intends over time to purchase further shares on the open market. It wants to increase its shareholding to around 10%. Thomas Cooks’ stock is currently up 16% in early trade at 140p per share.
The Dollar held pole position in Asia on Friday as bulls wagered a looming U.S. jobs report might add to the chance of rate hikes, even as the European Central Bank embarks on a trillion Euro campaign of bond-buying. U.S. stocks closed modestly higher in light trading on Thursday as investors held back on big bets ahead of Friday’s jobs report, which is expected to be a big factor in influencing the timing of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike. The Dow rose 38 points to close at 18,135, the S&P500 gained 2 points to close at 2,101.
With yield spreads widening in the Dollar’s favour, the Euro broke below $1.1000 for the first time since September 2003, but has since drifted back to $1.1025. The Dollar was also firm on the Yen, trading around the 120.00 level.
In commodity markets, U.S. crude was quoted 34 cents firmer at $51.10, while Brent crude gained 47 cents to $60.95 a barrel. Spot gold prices were little changed at $1,199.30 an ounce.
Thomas Cook has announced a new strategic partnership with investment group Fosun International which will see the latter take a 5% stake in the travel operator. Fosun is investing £91.8m for the issue of over 73.1m shares, and intends over time to purchase further shares on the open market. It wants to increase its shareholding to around 10%. Thomas Cooks’ stock is currently up 16% in early trade at 140p per share.
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