Euro is slipping right now, following the latest data that promotes the idea that global economic uncertainty remains. Concerns about the eurozone economy are affecting the euro, but the 17-nation currency was showing resilience — until the latest economic news out of the United States. Earlier risk appetite due to cautious optimism is transforming in to risk aversion, and the euro is giving up its earlier gains against the US dollar. Earlier, the euro made some gains against the US dollar on the expectation that risk appetite was returning because of economic recovery. Good news about jobless claims in the United States has been overshadowed by disappointing ISM data. On top of that, the eurozone’s own woes are in the spotlight again. Even though the ECB kept rates steady at 1%, president Mario Draghi has already expressed the difficult road ahead for an economic recovery in the currency region. So, while the euro enjoyed a boost against the US dollar earlier, that is already gone as equities turn to losses and the euro gives up its gains. Without a clear plan for Europe, the euro is likely to continue to languish. At 14:44 GMT EUR/USD has slipped to 1.3152 from an earlier high of 1.3182. EUR/USD opened at 1.3158. EUR/GBP is still a little higher, though, at 0.8128, up from the open at 0.8123. EUR/JPY is also still a little higher at 105.6555, up from the open at 105.4550. If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Euro, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

The Great Britain pound fell today against the US dollar after a report showed that the UK services index fell more than was expected by market participants. The currency was higher against the Japanese yen.

The UK Services Purchasing Managers’ Index went down from 55.3 in March to 53.3 in April. The median forecast was 54.4. The data wasn’t all bad though. The value is above 50.0, indicating growth. Moreover, it is 16th month of expansion, suggesting that growth is quite robust. The pound is dragged down by negative fundamentals in Britain, but boosted by safe haven demand caused by the problems in Europe.



GBP/USD was down from 1.6198 to 1.6177 as of 13:46 GMT today. At the same time, GBP/JPY was up from 129.82 to 130.20.

If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Great Britain Pound, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.