The euro falls against the dollar amid resumed concern that Europe will fail to contain its sovereign-debt crisis.Earlier the euro soared in the wake of news that Italy and France will announce a naked short-selling ban after the close Thursday.
The Swiss franc continue falling after Swiss National Bank Deputy President Thomas Jordan was reported today to have said in an interview with Tages-Anzeiger that a temporary tie between the franc and the euro to curb the Swiss currency’s gains would be legal under the central bank’s mandate.
The pound strengthened against the dollar after U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne rebuffed opposition demands to review spending cuts as the euro- region’s debt woes roil stock markets around the world.
The yen sheds as higher Treasury yields make the dollar more attractive to Japanese investors.
The Australian dollar bounces back versus the dollar amid weakness of the latter. Earlier the Australian currency fell versus its New Zealand counterpart after a report showed the jobless rate unexpectedly rose.
European data for Friday starts at 0530GMT with France HICP data for July, which is expected to show a decline of -0.3% m/m, +2.3% y/y as well as the flash release of Q2 GDP data, which is seen rising 0.3% q/q, 2.0% y/y. France data continues at 0630GMT with the bank of France retail survey and at 0645GMT with Q2 payrolls data. European data then rounds off with EMU industrial output for June, which is likely to be unchanged m/m.
US data starts at 1230GMT with retail sales, which are expected to rise 0.6% in July, as vehicle sales accelerated, but gasoline prices fell for the second straight month. Nonauto retail sales are forecast to rise 0.3%. At 1355GMT, the Michigan Sentiment Index is expected to rise to a reading of 63.5 in early-August from 63.7 in July. At 1400GMT, business inventories are expected to rise 0.5% in June. Factory inventories were already reported up 0.2% in the month.