Euro Strikes New High Against Dollar
The euro climbed to another record high Wednesday after new inflation figures in Europe put a serious dent in the chance of a near-term rate cut in the Eurozone.
Europe's common currency was recently trading for $1.5956, just below the all-time high of around $1.596 reached earlier in the session. That was up from $1.5787 late Tuesday.
The advance came after March inflation figures for the Eurozone were revised higher, bringing the government's year-on-year estimate of price inflation to 3.6%.
According to Ashraf Laidi, chief foreign-exchange analyst at CMC Markets in New York, the numbers validate the European Central Bank's "relentless hawkish rhetoric" and further dampens the odds of a reduction in rates anytime soon.
The ECB has for some time placed greater emphasis on fighting consumer price inflation than on economic growth, the reverse of the approach by the
Federal Reserve
. The result has been a growing dissatisfaction from investors with holding the low-yielding U.S. currency relative to owning higher-yielding euros.
Elsewhere in the currency markets, a dollar was buying 101.16 Japanese yen, down from 101.66 yen previously. The British pound was selling for $1.9712, up from $1.9614.
The
CurrencyShares Euro Trust
(FXE) - Get Report
was up 1.3% recently, while the
CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust
(FXY) - Get Report
was losing 0.1%. The
CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling
(FXB) - Get Report
was tacking on 0.6%.
In the metals markets, bullion prices jumped on the back of the struggling greenback.
Benchmark bullion futures closed higher by $16.20 at $948.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold reached a record high of $1,024 March 17 and then pulled back, but lately it has been trending upward again.
"There is still somewhat of a disconnect in the fact that oil, as well as the dollar, is scaling new highs and lows respectively while bullion is stuck
well below its own recent record," writes Jon Nadler, gold analyst at Montreal-based bullion dealer Kitco in a recent research report.
The
iShares Comex Gold Trust
(IAU) - Get Report
, which owns bars of gold bullion, was rallying 1.7%.
Among companies, shares of
Kinross Gold
(KGC) - Get Report
were up over 6%, while
Harmony Gold
(HMY) - Get Report
was ahead by more than 8%.
Yamana Gold
(AUY) - Get Report
was gaining better than 6%.