By CountingPips.com
The US Dollar has been mixed in forex trading as movements against most of the major currencies have been muted with little economic data released today. The U.S. dollar has gained ground versus the Canadian dollar, New Zealand dollar, British pound and the Australian dollar while losing ground to the Swiss franc. Against the euro and
Economic news releases today showed that Switzerland retail sales increased by 4.7 percent on an annual basis in December from the December 2008 level, according to the Switzerland Federal Statistics Office. Retail sales had decreased by 0.1 percent on an annual basis in November.
Employment data, also out of Switzerland and released by the Federal Statistics Office, showed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 4.2 percent in December to 4.1 in January. The jobs data surpassed economic forecasts predicting the jobless rate to level at 4.3 percent.
The U.S. stock markets had a negative session today with the Dow falling by 103 points and closing under the 10,000 level for the first time since November. The Nasdaq decreased by 15.07 points and the S&P 500 declined by 9.45 points. Oil edged higher by $0.49 to the $71.68 level while gold gained by $13.50 to $1,065.70 per ounce.
In forex trading, the EUR/USD opened the day at 1.3643 and made an intraday high at the 1.3713 level before retreating lower. This pair’s movement was constrained between the 1.3700 and 1.3650 levels for most of the day as the markets took a breather after last week’s risk averse environment. The EUR/USD fell by 183 pips in last week’s trading as the euro was hurt by news of Greece’s debt problem and the scrutiny of other areas with debt difficulties (Spain, Portugal).
EUR/USD Daily Chart -The euro falling against the U.S. dollar from the beginning of December after reaching the 1.5141 level on December 3rd. This pair fell below the 200-day moving average (in blue) in the middle of January for the first time since the beginning of May and touched an eight-month low last week.
