Markets

Thursday, in early European session the UK sterling firmed across the board, climbing to 2-day highs against the yen and the dollar after the latest quarterly Inflation Attitudes Survey from BofE and GfK NOP showed that UK's inflation expectations increased.

UK's annual rate of inflation over the coming year is expected to rise to 2.5% compared to 2.4% estimated in November. Respondents assessed the current inflation rate at 3.4%, up from 3.2% in the previous survey period.

The 16-nation currency reflected mixed trading versus its key rivals during early European session today. While the euro recouped its losses against the dollar and the yen, it fell against the pound. Against the franc, the euro remained in a tight range.

The euro that slipped to 1.3623 against the dollar at 2:30 am ET Thursday bounced back thereafter. Presently, EUR/USD rally is worth 1.3666, near yesterday's close of 1.3655. On the upside, 1.368 is seen as the next target level for the European currency.

During early European trading Thursday, the US major revealed mixed presence versus its main opponents. While the greenback pared its late Asian session's gains against the euro, pound and the franc, it recouped losses against the yen.

Thursday in Singapore, bullion recouped slightly after falling to its lowest in nearly two weeks the previous day, though poor technicals and failure to sustain recent gains may stimulate selling.

Spot gold was at $1,108.90 an ounce by 3:05 GMT, up $1.05 from New York's notional close on Wednesday, when it fell to as low as $1,102.85 an ounce, its lowest level since February, 25, as safe-haven buying on Greek sovereign debt worries tapered off.

Thursday, in early Asian session the Japanese yen ticked up against rivals as a weaker-than-expected Japan's final fourth quarter GDP report prompted investors toward the safe-haven Japanese currency.

Japan's GDP expanded by 0.9% in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to the previous three months, the Cabinet Office said today. That was weaker than expectations for a 1% gain compared to the 1.1% increase indicated in last month's preliminary report.

In early New York deals today, the US dollar traded lower against major rivals. The greenback dropped to new multi-day lows against the euro, franc and fresh multi-month low versus the loonie.

During North American session Wednesday, the Japanese unit extended its previous session's downtrend. The yen slipped to a 2-day low against the euro and more than 2-week lows against the dollar and the franc.

At 10:30 am ET, the yen weakened to a 2-day low of 123.76 against the euro The current quotes for EUR/JPY pair is 123.80, compared to yesterday's close of 122.40.

Wednesday in Singapore, bullion prices steadied after the euro recouped slightly against the dollar though weaker oil prices could prompt new selling.

Spot gold was at $1,122.00 an ounce by 3:04 GMT, modestly changed from New York's notional close on Tuesday, when it dropped to $1,108.55 an ounce, its weakest since February 26, because of a resurgent dollar and falling oil prices.

Wednesday in Asia during early deals, the British pound revealed weakness versus its main rivals awaiting the release of UK's industrial and manufacturing production data from Office for National Statistics for January that is due at 4:30 am ET.

The British pound tumbled to new multi-day lows against its key counterparts extending its Asian session's slide in early European deals on Tuesday following the release of UK visible trade balance report for January.

During early European session today, the European single lost ground, sliding to a 4-day low against its US and Japanese rivals on the back of weak European stocks as investors grew cautious after a recent rally in riskier assets. At the same time, the euro pared its recent gains against the franc, but jumped to a 6-day high against the pound.

Germany's DAX fell 0.4%, France's CAC 40 index slipped 0.5% and U.K.'s FTSE 100 index dropped 0.2%.

During late Asian session, the US currency hit fresh multi-day highs against most majors despite a positive close by most Asian stocks. The greenback spiked to a 6-day high against the pound and 4-day highs versus the franc and the euro. However, the dollar traded at a 4-day low against the yen.

The alpine currency weakened across the board, sliding versus the currencies of Europe, US and Japan during late Asian deals Tuesday as traders are expecting Switzerland's inflation report for February, which is due to be released shortly. On the other hand, the franc rose against the pound due to across the board weakening of the latter.

Early on Tuesday, in Asia the Japanese unit gains ground across the board in early Asian trading on as a slide in most of Asia-pacific equities prompted risk-averse traders to move into the lower-yielding yen. The yen thus reached a 4-day high against its major counterparts.

Tuesday in Singapore, bullion prices slipped as early bargain hunting faded, and dealers consider a weaker US dollar was probably needed to help gold break free from its current range.

Spot gold hit an intraday high of $1,124.30 an ounce and was at $1,120.40 by 2:53 GMT, down $2.45 from New York's notional close on Monday, when it lost 1%.

In early March, gold was also around 1% below a 6-1/2-week high near $1,150 an ounce hit.