http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/http://mediaserver.fxstreet.com/images/fxstreet-provider-logo1-en.gif7http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-10.htmlDo we have an agreement in Greece? Noises yesterday suggested so although no clear announcement has been made. The rumours did cause a slight rally in risky assets yesterday but with all the macroeconomic data flying round from the UK, Bank of England and Mario Draghi, yesterday’s session was a very choppy one. The story was broken by the FT Athens correspondent that a deal between Greek politicians had been reached, however, it has not signed, ratified or confirmed in any way, shape or form.Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:29:57 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-10.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-09.htmlThe Greek saga continued overnight with an agreement on austerity once again unable to be found. The talks between Lucas Papademos, the technocratic PM, and the leaders of the three main political parties broke down over EUR300m worth of cuts to public sector worker pensions. According to the press, the EU/ECB/IMF troika have given the politicians 15 days to find the money somewhere else with talks between European Finance Ministers due in Brussels today. And yet the euro keeps on going!Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:53:54 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-09.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-08.htmlAnother deadline missed and still no agreement on the Greek debt situation. A meeting planned between interim PM Papademos and other political leaders failed to materialise and was rescheduled for later today. This is now becoming a parody of itself and were it not for the March 20 th line in the sand (a EUR14.4bn bond redemption) this could be dragging on past Christmas. Despite the delays, a comment by a Greek government official that the government was drafting an agreement on the bailoutWed, 08 Feb 2012 09:41:28 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-08.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-07.htmlAnother deadline passed in Greece yesterday without an agreement and the market must once again take another trip on the interminable merry-go-round of broken promises, incompetent politicians and self-serving rumours. The Greek political class are too scared of losing their jobs to vote through the further austerity measures and the EU/ECB/IMF troika won’t play ball until further efficiencies are found, intransigence thy name is Greece. A meeting between Greek politicians is due today andTue, 07 Feb 2012 08:38:57 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-07.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-06.htmlMeetings between Greek politicians continued over the weekend but no signs of an agreement have been forthcoming. The IMF/EU/ECB troika has asked Greece to come up with further austerity measures by 10am GMT this morning so as to receive the new EUR130bn bailout package that should see the Greeks not default on March 20th. Or at least, not default in a disorderly fashion. The agreement on how much of a haircut the private sector will receive has been pushed away, it seems, as the ECB is notMon, 06 Feb 2012 08:57:40 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-06.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-03.htmlThe “Story That Never Dies” may have a date with the executioner. It was announced yesterday that a meeting this upcoming Monday (Feb 6 th ) is the new deadline for the parties to agree on all things Greek. Firstly, the size of the haircut that private investors must take on their holdings alongside what the ECB will do with its holdings. Secondly, the size of another bailout, which is rumoured to be around the EUR130bn mark and finally, further austerity measures from the Greek government.Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:22:51 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-03.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-02.htmlWhat are you all worried about, huh? UK manufacturing PMI came out of the traps like a rocket yesterday, bouncing back into positive territory with the strongest number since May 2011. Orders also rose at the fastest pace since March but, as we like to caution, one swallow does not make a summer and the manufacturing sector is by no means secure at the moment. The release did drive the pound onwards yesterday with gains against the dollar and the euro immediately after the announcement.Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:21:06 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-02.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-01.htmlWe told you it would be volatile! Month-end fixes pushed currencies around yesterday, technical levels were breached, with the euro the main loser with GBPEUR hitting a 2 week high in the afternoon session while EURUSD moved lower and back towards the 1.30 level. The moves fit nicely with our expectation that both GBPEUR and GBPUSD will remain range bound over the coming weeks, data surprises aside. The Asian session has seen a further move lower for risk as traders seemed disappointed by theWed, 01 Feb 2012 12:20:48 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-02-01.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-31.htmlThe meeting of EU members yesterday was successful in that the fiscal compact agreement proposed by Germany was passed. All countries apart from the UK and the Czech Republic signed up to the agreement to balance budgets and bring deficits lower although the actual detail on penalties and so called “exceptional circumstances” break clauses will work. This is merely a sideshow to the real problem that is Greece, and that particular problem has not been moved forward an inch. One EU politicianTue, 31 Jan 2012 10:09:53 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-31.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-30.htmlWith the World Economic Forum’s talking shop now over we have to rely on European leaders to provide us with meeting after meeting and press conference after press conference. Luckily enough there is a meeting of EU leaders going on today to provide us with all headlines and financial obfuscation anyone could want. The topic that needs talking about but nobody seems willing to address is, once again, Greece. Over the weekend a document was released showing supposedly German proposals to makeMon, 30 Jan 2012 08:55:30 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-30.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-27.htmlIt had all gone quiet on the Greek front for a couple of days and with UK GDP and the Fed meeting on Wednesday it would have been easy to forget the debt negotiations going on Greece. Rumours that a deal had been struck between authorities and hedge funds invested in Greek debt kept the euro elevated yesterday although the rumours do strike us as a bit fishy. The rumours came from a Greek newspaper that the private investors are willing to take a lower interest rate of 3.75 per cent on theFri, 27 Jan 2012 11:03:02 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-27.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-26.htmlUK growth, or the lack of it, dominated markets yesterday before a late surge in activity following Angela Merkel’s speech to the World Economic Forum and the Federal Reserve’s latest decision. GBP fought hard after the GDP announcement to tread water above the 1.20 level before a rally in EURUSD through to fresh 5 week highs took GBPEUR back into the mid-1.19s. On UK GDP it was obvious that the relatively solid numbers from last quarter’s services sector have been completely overawn by fallsThu, 26 Jan 2012 10:54:12 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-26.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-25.htmlIt was again another mixed bag in markets yesterday with good data mixed in with bad and sentiment both damaged and encouraged by comments from various of the global economic elite. The IMF led the charge yesterday with their latest World Economic Outlook lowering global growth estimations by another 0.75 per cent. Growth is now predicted in the global economy to expand by 3.25% in 2012 which has got a lot of people into a panic but shouldn’t necessarily do so. 3.25% growth is OK, middling,Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:52:37 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-25.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-24.htmlDespite a lack of news flow yesterday, especially around the Greek PSI negotiations, risky assets remained in favour throughout the session pushing equities and the euro higher. There is a broad split in markets between the people out there who believe that the world is doomed and we will all be eating rocks for the rest of our lives and, those who think that recent good bond auctions, alongside better economic data from the US and an ok earnings season Stateside could be enough to move usTue, 24 Jan 2012 10:24:09 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-24.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-23.htmlIt’s been a strange week in the currency markets. At last week’s close the market was frothing at the lips over the possibility of a French downgrade. It duly happened, but what was the resulting effect on the euro? Well it’s 2.5% stronger against the US dollar and GBPEUR has touched a 3 week low overnight so all is not as it seems. Bond auctions have progressed well in the past week with yesterday’s sales from Spain and France proving no exception. Madrid managed to sell EUR6.6bn, a goodMon, 23 Jan 2012 09:19:05 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-23.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-20.htmlIt’s been a strange week in the currency markets. At last week’s close the market was frothing at the lips over the possibility of a French downgrade. It duly happened, but what was the resulting effect on the euro? Well it’s 2.5% stronger against the US dollar and GBPEUR has touched a 3 week low overnight so all is not as it seems. Bond auctions have progressed well in the past week with yesterday’s sales from Spain and France proving no exception. Madrid managed to sell EUR6.6bn, a goodFri, 20 Jan 2012 13:34:10 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-20.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-19.htmlSomeone said to me months and months ago that they weren’t too worried about the financial crisis as “It’s not like the IMF is running out of money or anything like that”. I suspect my friend is now out there buying soup and a high-powered rifle after the news yesterday that the IMF will be aksing the nations that contribute to it for an additional $500bn of funding. This is an obvious plea to the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) for funding in an attempt to boost the Fund’sThu, 19 Jan 2012 08:57:43 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-19.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-18.htmlHope for the euro has not been crushed completely by the actions of the ratings agency Standard and Poors in the past few days with it fighting back well yesterday. Surprisingly strong data from the German economy together with decent bill auctions from Spain, Belgium and the European Financial Stability Facility has put GBPEUR back down towards the 1.20 level and EURUSD has bounced back over the 1.28 mark. Sterling also took a leg lower as it was confirmed that inflation had dipped by theWed, 18 Jan 2012 09:04:28 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-18.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-17.htmlMarkets were pretty quiet yesterday with the US away for the Martin Luther King day holiday. The main news came late from the Eurozone in the form of another downgrade by Standard and Poors although it was not a country that saw its rating slip. Last night the long-term rating of the European Financial Stability Facility was cut from AAA to AA+ as a direct result of the downgrade of France on Friday. S&P had warned that the EFSF was likely to be downgraded if one of the main AAA fundingTue, 17 Jan 2012 09:25:19 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-17.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-16.htmlThe market’s worst kept secret was outed on Friday night as France lost its AAA rating following a downgrade from the ratings agency Standard & Poors. Personally we think that the current situation is now a lot clearer given the absence of the uncertainty that stalked French assets for the past few months. There hasn’t been much reaction in French bonds or in the CDS, default insurance, markets so we can safely say this was expected. The ripples from the announcement, while muted in theMon, 16 Jan 2012 09:50:51 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-16.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-13.htmlWe had forecast a bounce back for the euro at the beginning of the week and she asserted herself yesterday following strong debt auctions from two of the peripheries most beleaguered members and a press conference from Mario Draghi that signalled that monetary policy is likely to stay “as is” for the next couple of months at least. GBPEUR broke back into the 1.19s for the first time in 7 trading sessions and EURUSD retraced strongly above the 1.28 mark. Bond auctions used to be one of, if notFri, 13 Jan 2012 09:41:21 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-13.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-12.htmlTraders sat and waited for “Central Bank Thursday” yesterday with markets quiet for most of the session. The morning session was dominated by news from Germany with an auction of 5yr debt showing how much cash is still flying into safe haven assets. This was the first auction of 5 year German debt that yielded less than 1% and demand was strong; shifting EUR8.97bn against a targeted EUR4bn. This comes in the same week that a 6 month paper auction from Germany was sold with negative yields i.e.Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:42:12 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-12.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-11.htmlMarkets moved positively yesterday as a rating agency, for once, gave the world some good news. Fitch dampened speculation that it would be downgrading France any time soon and that they do not expect the country to be downgraded through the whole of 2012. The same can be said for Germany with comments that its AAA rating is “safe”. They did acknowledge that there are continuing pressures on the country from places such as its own banking sector and contributions to the European FinancialWed, 11 Jan 2012 09:01:24 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-11.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-10.htmlThe meetings between European leaders kicked off yesterday with a little soiree between Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy in Berlin. While the press conference yielded little that was new, there was a confidence that a treaty to reinforce budgetary discipline in the European Union would be signed by the end of the month and, at the latest by March. They also continued talks on the Financial Transaction Tax that caused so much rancour before the turn of the year, forcing Cameron to use the vetoTue, 10 Jan 2012 08:53:36 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-10.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-09.htmlThe year of good data continued on Friday with the US jobs numbers all surprising to the high-side. 200,000 jobs were added in the month of December and the unemployment rate fell to 8.5% from 8.7% previously, the lowest level it has been since 2009. This is of course an election year in the United States and we would not be surprised if Obama did a little dance around the Oval Office as a result of that number printing. The reaction in FX was muted however and the “risk on” spike that manyMon, 09 Jan 2012 09:20:31 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-09.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-06.htmlPressure remained on the European single currency yesterday as borrowing costs for Italy and France both rose, fuelling fears about Europe and its banking sector. This was despite good data in both the US and the UK helping some risky assets. Strong data came in particular from the US jobs market ahead of today’s non-farm payroll number. GBPEUR moved to a fresh 15 month high while EURUSD fell in to the 1.27s and a fresh 15 month low. While we do not expect the euro to weaken too much more inFri, 06 Jan 2012 09:39:52 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-06.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-05.html2012 has finally started to look a lot like the final months of last year with the European single currency coming under pressure again as the market ponders the probability that a breakup of the currency union may be a possibility. EURUSD retraced all of the gains made in the previous session while GBPEUR hit 14 month highs and closed at the highest level since September 2010. European news wasn’t all that shocking yesterday however, the herd mentality of the people who are expecting the euroThu, 05 Jan 2012 09:20:19 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-05.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-04.htmlThe run of good data in 2012 continued yesterday with PMI figures from China, the UK and US all surprising to the high side leading to a broad rally in risk. Equities pulled higher while the dollar and yen were sold to pay for forays into riskier assets. There is still a fair amount of liquidity to come back onto the table with traders still returning to their desks and we expect the positioning bump of investors making their plays for 2012 to last for another few days at least. ManufacturingWed, 04 Jan 2012 11:29:27 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-04.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-03.htmlSo this is the new year and markets look to be starting 2012 with a renewed sense of vigour. I don’t blame anyone if they didn’t pay much attention to the economic news over the festive break as there wasn’t much. What was about mainly focused on politicians talking about how 2011 was a tough year and that we shouldn’t expect 2012 to be any different. Merkel, Cameron and Sarkozy were all fairly downcast in their end of year appraisals but the political mood is not influencing risk so far.Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:23:24 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2012-01-03.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-22.htmlThe European Central Bank’s Long Term Refinance Operation saw EUR489 billion borrowed by 523 European banks yesterday. This works out an average of EUR935 million per bank and showed the real scale of the funding and liquidity problems within the European banking sector and what they have been dealing with over the past few months. After an initial spike in risky assets the euro fell back dramatically over the course of the day losing over 1% versus the US dollar and with sterling versus theThu, 22 Dec 2011 09:48:32 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-22.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-21.htmlThe “Santa rally” finally got going yesterday as better than expected news from the Eurozone gave risky assets a bump higher ahead of an important day for Europe and its banking sector. German IFO business confidence rallied to 107.2 yesterday, the 2nd unexpected rise in two months, after it became clear that German businesses are expecting that the worst of the debt crisis is likely over and that growth will return to Europe in 2012. Businesses reported that order books were still operatingWed, 21 Dec 2011 09:24:56 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-21.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-20.htmlThe failure of European leaders to come to yet another agreement, this time on additional loans to the IMF, has hurt the single currency yet again in the past 24hrs. We honestly believe there are members of the European political structure who would argue that the world was round and lightening is the anger of the Gods. It was expected that loans of EUR200bn would be agreed but following a conference call late afternoon it seems that only a figure of 150bn will be available. Some EU membersTue, 20 Dec 2011 09:20:12 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-20.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-19.htmlSo he really was ill. Over the weekend Kim Jong Il, the North Korean Dictator, passed away and all semblance of a quiet start to the last week before Christmas died with him. For the markets it is very much a case of “better the devil you know” when you’re dealing with maniacal nuclear isolationist states and the news of the “Dear Leader’s” death has been greeted by stock market losses in Asia and Europe. Casting our mind back to Friday we had a fair bit of action from ratings agencies but noMon, 19 Dec 2011 09:31:26 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-19.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-16.htmlThe European single currency managed to claw back some respect yesterday and looks to have put in a bottom to this new trading range. Those eager to sell the euro pushed it through the 1.30 level against the USD but the belief that the recent move is overdone is becoming more widely held and therefore a reversal higher may be on the cards. EUR found strength in stronger than expected manufacturing and services data from Germany while risky assets got a boost from a US initial jobless claimsFri, 16 Dec 2011 09:01:01 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-16.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-15.htmlThe single currency managed to arrest its slide yesterday versus the pound but made new 11 month lows versus the US dollar with continual pressure being exerted as traders become more and more nervous as to the continent’s funding position and the attitude of the politicians to solve it. The ratings agency Fitch downgraded a slew of French banks and it seems that the French government is expecting a similar move from Standard & Poor’s soon for the country’s sovereign rating. The FrenchThu, 15 Dec 2011 08:40:43 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-15.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-14.htmlThe market once again gave the euro a beating yesterday and sent it to fresh 9 month lows versus sterling and close to the 1.30 level versus the US dollar. The decay only really started at around 15.30 when reports came from within the German ruling coalition that Angela Merkel had ruled out an increase in the upper limit of the European Stability Mechanism. You combine that with moves by Fitch to cut Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania’s credit outlook on fears that the EurozoneWed, 14 Dec 2011 09:30:52 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-14.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-13.htmlMarkets showed their unhappiness with the fudge that was Friday’s EU summit yesterday taking equities lower and pushing euro to 9 month lows versus the pound and 8 week lows against the dollar. For a summit that was hailed as “the one that saves the euro” it has not given us any new fiscal framework and the main headline was of course the veto by David Cameron. It seems to have made very little difference on the markets’ impression of the UK with sterling one of the best performing currenciesTue, 13 Dec 2011 10:27:12 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-13.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-12.htmlThe chat over the weekend has remained on the political instead of the economical side of things following Cameron’s decision to use the UK’s veto to a new EU treaty. The Sunday papers of every political stripe have covered it from top to bottom so, without any real progression over the weekend, we will leave it at that except to say that we believe that issues such as the Irish corporation tax rate will come back to bite the Merkozy axis sooner rather than later. We have seen pressure come onMon, 12 Dec 2011 08:32:42 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-12.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-09.htmlSomeone said to me last night that “there is no such thing as hopeless situations, just hopeless people in situations”. The great and the good of the European political class have done it again and, after having the table set for them by an ECB seemingly greedy for balance sheet risk, they’ve come to nothing. The leaders have failed to agree to change the EU treaty so as to guarantee tighter fiscal control over EU members and instead we will see a watered-down agreement launched with greatFri, 09 Dec 2011 09:38:26 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-09.htmlhttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-08.htmlThe financial market rumour mill is currently running overdrive in the lead-up to Friday’s EU summit with the “developments” becoming even more strange and unlikely. Tuesday night’s rumour was of a dual bailout fund effort in the Eurozone which was rebuffed out of hand by an unnamed senior German official yesterday morning. Last night’s cracker was that the IMF was likely to extend $600bn in assistance to pay for a new rescue fund. That 2 days ago we heard that the IMF itself may have to raiseThu, 08 Dec 2011 10:34:00 GMThttp://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/enquiries@worldfirst.com (World First UK Ltd)http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/market-view/daily-world-market-update/2011-12-08.html