EURUSD was trading in a choppy pattern though euro made up for most losses made due to the Spain downgrade which briefly reminded investors of the seriousness of euro zone debt problems. The focus shifted to the G20 Summit that is currently in session in Paris, where leaders are expected to discuss plans to tackle the crisis. EURUSD touched early lows of 1.3743 and bounced up to 1.3826. Euro is headed for its biggest weekly gain since January. On the week the single currency is up almost 3 percent.
GBPUSD took direction from the EURUSD pair and edged up to a one- month high as risk appetite improved gradually throughout the session, helping cable gain over 60 pips from a low of 1.5743 up to 1.5802.
EURCHF continued to trade sideways but widened the range, especially on the upside, hitting high of 1.2388, versus the open price of 1.2370. An improved risk sentiment helped lift euro ahead of the G20 meetings this weekend.
USDJPY opened Europe at 76.89 and climbed steadily to 77.18. The dollar accelerated gains after better than expected US retail sales data. Sales grew by 1.1 percent, which was more than double the forecasted 0.5 percent. After an initial sell-off for euro, investors soon regained confidence in the single currency as they look ahead to the G20 summit, and bought back EURJPY to lift it to 106.69 from the 105.72 session low.
The Canadians dollar strengthened to its strongest level in three weeks against its US counterpart as the commodity price-sensitive loonie benefitted from a rise in risk appetite. Crude oil rose over US$3 a barrel on the day which helped lift the oil producing country’s currency and pressured the greenback to fall to 1.0110 from 1.0190.
The Australian dollar approached a four-week high as currencies perceived to be higher risk strengthened against the safe haven dollar as risk appetite returned. This pushed AUDUSD up to 1.0289 from 1.0209.
