Euro hits six week high against dollar

Published: 10 Dec at 8 AM Tags: Euro,

The euro has managed to hit its highest level in six weeks against its US rival despite last week’s strong job figures coming out of the US and low interest rates and slow economic conditions within the eurozone. The single currency has also managed achieve a five-year high against the yen.

Some analysts believe that strong economic figures being released by both China and the US could help to lift economic activity in the eurozone. Reports from China at the weekend showed that exports in November rose 12.7 per cent on the same month a year earlier and imports were up 5.3 per cent.

The euro is up 0.26 per cent to $1.3739 having earlier traded at a high of $1.3745. The single currency has been underpinned by indications the European Central Bank will not introduce further monetary easing at the moment.

The euro was also up 0.62 per cent against the yen to 141.93 yen, the highest it has been in half a decade. The euro was kept high by investors who appeared to be ignoring disappointing industrial output figures from Germany and a drop in sentiment across the eurozone.

Although encouraging, Friday’s US jobs figures were not considered by most analysts to be strong enough to cause an immediate tapering of the Federal Reserve’s bond purchasing programme.