Euro up on positive German data

Published: 9 Aug at 9 AM Tags: Euro, Dollar,

The dollar was down against the euro earlier as better than expected export data was released from Germany. In the US, jobless claims have improved strengthening expectations that the US Federal Reserve will not push back its plans to taper its easy money policy.

The euro ended trading at 1.3393 against the greenback, an increase of 0.42 per cent after hitting a session high of 1.3395 and a low of 1.3329 in New York trading. The current bond buying programme by the US central bank worth $85 billion per month is keeping interest rates low and also putting pressure on the dollar.

Earlier in the week a meeting of senior Fed officials said that tapering of bond purchasing could be given the go ahead as early as next month. However, some analysts believe that soft economic data could push the decision back to December.

According to the US Labor Department, jobless claims increased by 5000, fewer than the 8000 that had initially been predicted. However, it is likely that any rise in jobless figures is unlikely to push the Fed to make any decision on quantitative easing by September.

In Germany a 0.6 per cent increase in exports was better than expected and gave a slight lift to the single currency. The euro is currently up against the yen by 0.15 per cent at 128.66.