Euro Mixed Against Majors

Euro Mixed Against Majors




The euro showed mixed performance against its major counterparts in European trading on Friday.
Greece should implement reforms to come out of the current downward spiral, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said in an interview with the German newspaper Bild-Zeitung, published today.
To overcome the crisis, Greece needs a stable political environment, he said.
The euro that rose to 109.85 against the yen in early deals pared gains shortly thereafter. The pair is now worth 109.39, compared to Thursday's close of 108.98.
In economic news, confidence among France's businesses improved markedly in March with their production outlook improving significantly, a survey by the statistical office Insee showed today.
The headline synthetic index rose to 96 in March from a February's revised reading of 93. Economists expected an increase to 93 from February's original reading of 92.
The European single currency that reached a new 3-week high of 1.3294 against the greenback in early trading eased slightly shortly thereafter. Presently, the euro is trading at 1.3245 against the greenback, compared to Thursday's close of 1.3202.
Against the pound, the euro touched a 2-day high of 0.8365 from Thursday's close of 0.8346. If the euro rises further, it may target 0.84 level.
The number of mortgage approvals for house purchase in the U.K. declined more than expected in February, data released by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) showed today.
Mortgage approvals totaled 33,103 in February, down from a downwardly revised 37,977 in January. Economists had forecast approvals to come in at 37,250.
The euro that slipped to a new 2-week low of 1.2053 against the franc earlier held steady thereafter. As of now, the euro-franc pair is trading near Thursday's close of 1.2059.
The KOF Swiss Economic Institute said the economy survived the most recent economic dip relatively unscathed, although the traces left on the GDP growth rates are quite visible.
The institute lifted economic growth estimate for this year to 0.8 percent from 0.2 percent. The growth outlook for 2013 was left unchanged at 1.9 percent.
The U.S. new home sales for February is slated for release in the New York session.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver brief opening remarks at the Fed Conference on Central Banking "Before, During, and After the Crisis" at 1:45 pm ET.


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