The pound traded near a five-month low of $1.33 on Friday, weighed down by worries over Brexit and signs of sustained weakness in Britain’s economy. Sterling had been one of the best-performing currencies in 2018, but weak economic data and a recent surge in the dollar have erased all of its gains for this year. Markets have radically scaled back expectations for when and how much the Bank of England will raise interest rates as economic growth slows. Data on Friday showed GDP grew just 0.1 percent in the first ...

As European economic data deteriorate and political risks intensify, Credit Suisse Group AG says the best way to wager against the euro is versus the Swiss franc and the yen. The prospects of slowing growth delaying European Central Bank policy tightening and Italian political uncertainty infecting assets across the region suggest there are further downside risks for the common currency, according to Alvise Marino, a foreign-exchange strategist at the bank in New York. The euro tumbled as much as 0.9 percent versus the dollar Wednesday, and fell below 1.16 francs ...

The euro slipped on Friday and is set for a sixth consecutive week of losses as concerns over Italy’s debt outlook weighed on sentiment, although losses were checked after North Korea said it was still open to resolving issues with the United States. Broader currencies remained in a range with investors digesting a week of heavy newsflow including broadly perceived dovish Fed minutes and mixed European data with the dollar holding below a December 2017 high of 94.19 hit this week. “The euro continues to be under pressure especially against ...

The pound is looking increasingly cheap. The currency is currently undervalued by around 19 percent against the dollar and by 8 percent against the euro, according to the Big Mac purchasing-power parity model. Sterling rebounded on Thursday after a report showed U.K. retail sales rose more than expected in April, heading above $1.34 after falling on Wednesday to $1.3306, the lowest level this year. “The very weak valuation by historical standards makes investors hesitant to believe in more structural sterling downside,” said Andreas Steno Larsen, a currency strategist at Nordea ...

Internet security expert and cryptocurrency enthusiast John McAfee has come back with yet another bullish prediction on the crypto market. “Institutional investors are preparing to enter the cryptocurrency market with a vengeance. They are generally long term investors and will be pumping billions into the market”, McAfee, the founder of the computer anti-virus company named after him, tweeted. His comment came on Monday as most major virtual currencies were going through their latest phase of descent. He said he expects the top ten coins to “go through the roof fairly ...

The dollar slipped against a basket of currencies on Thursday and hit a two-week low against the Japanese yen, after U.S. President Donald Trump scrapped a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and as traders booked profits following the greenback’s recent rally. Trump called off a historic summit with the North Korean leader citing Pyongyang’s “open hostility,” and warned that the U.S. military was ready in the event of any reckless acts by North Korea. “There is a slightly more risk-off mood in global financial markets as ...

The euro rose off a six-month low on Thursday as China signaled its confidence in the single currency but concerns over an economic slowdown in Europe and political risks in Italy continued to act as a brake. The euro is set to slump for a sixth consecutive week against the dollar — the longest weekly losing streak since January 2015 — hobbled by worries over a deepening economic slowdown in the currency bloc. On Thursday China’s Premier Li Keqiang said China was a long-term and responsible investor in the euro ...

The dollar held near a more than five-month high against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s May policy meeting showed most policymakers thought it likely another interest rate increase would be warranted “soon” if the U.S. economic outlook remains intact. “I didn’t really see anything in the minutes that changed anything for the dollar. It still seems like there is a chance of a fourth hike in 2018,” said Sireen Harajli, FX strategist at Mizuho Bank in New York. The Fed has lifted borrowing ...

BMO Capital Markets is unfazed by the risk of a U.K. election. The North American bank is bullish on sterling, seeing it gaining 7 percent to $1.44 by year-end, even after reports that Prime Minister Theresa May’s party is preparing for a second national vote in just over a year. The potential for more political drama at the same time as Brexit negotiations saw the pound slide to its lowest level this year on Monday. “It would leave the pound open to range trading and flatness but I don’t think ...

The dollar slipped on Tuesday after six straight days of gains, as U.S. Treasury yields dipped and investors looked for fresh incentives to buy the currency following a nearly 7 percent rally since mid-February. The dollar’s recent uptrend has been supported by generally upbeat U.S. economic data that has kept the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates at least two more times this year. In contrast, other major central banks such as the Bank of Japan are not in a tightening mode. “The U.S. dollar may require a ...

The dollar is poised to drop about 5 percent by year-end as the market’s focus returns to the worsening U.S. twin deficits and the surge in Treasury yields stalls, according to Brandywine Global Investment Management. The greenback has become vulnerable to a selloff as its recent rally has stretched valuations, said Richard Lawrence, who helps oversee $76 billion as senior vice president for portfolio management at the Legg Mason Inc. unit in Philadelphia. President Donald Trump’s administration is unlikely to stop the currency from weakening, he said. “The dollar could ...

The dollar advanced to a five-month high against a basket of currencies on Monday, as news of a truce between the United States and China on trade tariffs prompted investors to pare back short positions on the greenback. Investors have been short the dollar since July of last year, but the dollar index has rallied nearly 7 percent since mid-February. The dollar has been mainly bolstered by generally solid U.S. economic data that has backed the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy tightening stance this year. The prospect of a resolution to ...

The pound is running into another crucial week as it fumbles around this year’s lowest levels against the dollar for a footing. With the next round of Brexit talks, key U.K. economic reports and the still-unfolding Italian coalition drama set to converge in the coming days, front-end option volatility in sterling versus the U.S. currency has picked up from a one-month low reached at the start of last week. Adding to the pound’s woes were weekend newspaper reports that the Conservative Party was preparing for another election this year amid ...

The U.S. dollar has been on a nearly unstoppable uptrend since the start of the second quarter, rising in tandem with government bond yields, while equities got the short end of the stick. Now, investors wonder whether a buoyant buck will derail earnings growth. Since the beginning of April, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.21% a popular gauge of the U.S. currency that measures it against six rivals, is up 3.9%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 SPX, -0.26% was off 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.38% was down ...

With Turkey’s central bank sitting on the sidelines observing a currency meltdown and double-digit inflation, one brokerage is looking for help from a higher power. “God help Turkey,” Istanbul-based broker Alnus Yatirim said in the sign-off to its morning note to clients on Monday. “We’re faced with a central bank that is watching the market when it needs to lead and direct it.” The comments come as Turkey competes with Argentina, Angola and Venezuela for the world’s worst currency this year. The Turkish lira has declined more than 16 percent ...