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Dollar falls against most major currencies amid good news
[2009-01-27 16:59:39]
The dollar fell against most major currencies on Monday as investors' risk appetite was boosted by better-than-expected U.S. economic data and the profit forecast of a major British bank.
The index of leading U.S. economic indicators unexpectedly increased by 0.3 percent in December as the money supply expanded, the Conference Board reported on Monday. It was the first growth in six months, after a 0.4 percent loss in November.
The National Association of Realtors said that sales of previously owned homes in the United States unexpectedly rose 6.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.74 million units. The median price dropped 15 percent from a year ago, the biggest drop since records began in 1968.
Barclays PLC, one of the largest banks in Britain, said it expected pretax profits for 2008 to be well ahead the consensus estimate of 5.3 billion pounds (7.3 billion dollars), despite 8 billion pounds (11.2 billion dollars) worth of asset write-downs at its investment banking division.
The bank was well funded and profitable, Barclays' chairman Magnus Agius and chief executive John Varley said in a joint statement on Monday. Barclay was not seeking subscription for further capital as its capital resources are sufficient to manage the bank safely and prudently even in these difficult markets, the statement said.
Barclay's stock surged by 73 percent on Monday, pushing stocks of other British banks higher. It partly relived investors' worries over the British banking system and boosted the pound.
The euro bought 1.3137 dollars in latest New York trading compared with 1.2974 dollars it bought late Friday. The pound rose to 1.3938 dollars from 1.3768 dollars.
The dollar fell to 1.2253 Canadian dollars from 1.2340 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.1404 Swiss francs from 1.1566 Swiss francs. It rose to 89.02 Japanese yen from 88.76 Japanese yen.
Source: Xinhua
The index of leading U.S. economic indicators unexpectedly increased by 0.3 percent in December as the money supply expanded, the Conference Board reported on Monday. It was the first growth in six months, after a 0.4 percent loss in November.
The National Association of Realtors said that sales of previously owned homes in the United States unexpectedly rose 6.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.74 million units. The median price dropped 15 percent from a year ago, the biggest drop since records began in 1968.
Barclays PLC, one of the largest banks in Britain, said it expected pretax profits for 2008 to be well ahead the consensus estimate of 5.3 billion pounds (7.3 billion dollars), despite 8 billion pounds (11.2 billion dollars) worth of asset write-downs at its investment banking division.
The bank was well funded and profitable, Barclays' chairman Magnus Agius and chief executive John Varley said in a joint statement on Monday. Barclay was not seeking subscription for further capital as its capital resources are sufficient to manage the bank safely and prudently even in these difficult markets, the statement said.
Barclay's stock surged by 73 percent on Monday, pushing stocks of other British banks higher. It partly relived investors' worries over the British banking system and boosted the pound.
The euro bought 1.3137 dollars in latest New York trading compared with 1.2974 dollars it bought late Friday. The pound rose to 1.3938 dollars from 1.3768 dollars.
The dollar fell to 1.2253 Canadian dollars from 1.2340 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.1404 Swiss francs from 1.1566 Swiss francs. It rose to 89.02 Japanese yen from 88.76 Japanese yen.
Source: Xinhua
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