The common currency, the euro, slipped to 1.0707 US dollars in the afternoon, its lowest level in a good two months. Most recently, however, the euro was traded slightly higher again at $1.0725. The European Central Bank (ECB) set the reference rate at 1.0735 (Wednesday: 1.0785) dollars. The dollar thus cost 0.9315 (0.9272) euros.
Advertising
Trade EUR/USD and other currencies with leverage via CFD (long and short)
Trade currency pairs such as EUR/USD with leverage at Plus500 and participate in rising and falling prices.
The euro continued its recent downward trend after signs of progress towards an agreement on the US debt dispute. Republican negotiator Kevin McCarthy was optimistic that afternoon that a negotiated settlement between the White House and the Republicans could be reached. Time is of the essence: According to estimates by the US Treasury Department, the US is at risk of default at the beginning of June.
The US dollar rose, while the euro came under pressure, although the debt dispute is now attracting the attention of the rating agencies. Fitch, one of the Big Three credit checkers, is putting the United States’ top credit rating under increased scrutiny and threatening a downgrade. Rather, the dollar was supported by robust economic data. In the afternoon it became known that the US economy had grown somewhat more strongly than previously known in the first quarter.
In contrast, the South African rand was one of the big losers in the market, falling to record lows against the US dollar in afternoon trading. R19.60 was paid for one dollar, more than ever before. The country’s central bank had previously raised the key interest rate by 0.50 percentage points to 8.25 percent, as expected. At the same time, the central bank also warned of further weakening of the national currency.
For other important currencies, the ECB set the reference rates for one euro at 0.86793 (0.86993) British pounds, 149.63 (149.30) Japanese yen and 0.9708 (0.9732) Swiss francs. An ounce of gold was trading at $1,950 in London this afternoon. That was about $7 less than the day before.
/jkr/la/men
FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX)
Image sources: Denis Vrublevski / Shutterstock.com