How Much Is 1 Euro to 1 Us Dollar
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - The dollar remained higher against the euro Thursday afternoon, due to investor wariness about the eurozone as European Finance Ministers met to work out a budget deal that many think cannot be achieved.
In recent trades the euro was down 0.1% at $1.2098. The dollar was down 0.2% at 108.95 yen.
EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss the budget. Luxembourg's prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who currently holds the European Union's presidency, said it would be "very difficult" to reach an agreement on the EU budget. .
Juncker's dour assessment added to worries about the euro and eurozone that have been simmering ever since both French and Dutch voters nixed referendums on the proposed EU constitution, said Mike Malpede, senior currency analyst at Refco.
Following the votes against the constitution, the euro overall has lost ground. Boris Schlossberg, senior currency analyst at Forex Capital Markets, said the market is carefully monitoring whether the euro slips below the key psychological level of $1.20.
Because of the focus on euro woes, the dollar was not dented by news that the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's headline manufacturing index dropped from 7.3 in May to -2.2 in June. The figure marked the first negative reading since May, 2003.
Economists were expecting a slight increase to 9.4, according to a survey conducted by MarketWatch. See Economic Calendar.
Analysts expecting the Fed to back off its current program of steady, quarter-point rate hikes have pointed to declining manufacturing activity and other signs of economic softness as reasons the central bank might do so.
However, Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig in a speech Wednesday said that economists, in general, judge the Fed's neutral rate to be "somewhere between 3.5% and 4.5%," implying the Fed could be poised to put in place a number of additional rate hikes. . Currently, the Fed fund rates stand at 3%.
In early trade there was scant market reaction to news of an unexpected increase in residential construction last month and a rise in jobless claims in the latest week.
Overnight the dollar rose against its major counterparts in Asia, as investors covered short positions.
On the Japanese data front, core machinery orders fell 1.0% in April from March. That was a smaller drop than expected by economists surveyed by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, who estimated on average that core orders would show a fall of 2.2% from the previous month.
In March, core machinery orders rose 1.9% on month.
Machinery orders are considered to be a leading indicator of corporate capital investment. Core orders exclude shipbuilding and orders from electric power companies, which are large enough to skew the overall data.
The Ministry of Finance's weekly portfolio flow data showed a small net inflow of funds last week, as overseas investors were net buyers of Japanese bonds, while turning relatively large net sellers of Japanese equities.
Domestic investors were larger net buyers of foreign bonds, while turning net sellers of foreign equities for the first time in eight weeks.
How Much Is 1 Euro to 1 Us Dollar
Source: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-under-pressure-on-eu-summit-concerns