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Gold/Mining/Energy : Euro Impact on Gold, USD ... -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: banco$ who wrote (110)	12/3/1998 8:54:00 AM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 289

I caught it, inflationary?

To: banco$ who wrote (110)	12/3/1998 6:59:00 PM
From: banco$	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 289

FX IN EUROPE-Dollar bears undaunted by euro easing: By Swaha Pattanaik LONDON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - European interest rate cuts threw the dollar a lifeline on Thursday but failed to hoist it out of harm's way amid persistent concern about U.S. stocks. Rate cuts in the 11 countries which will adopt the single European currency have come sooner than traders were expecting but only temporarily eclipsed worries that falls in U.S. stocks will whittle away at American consumer confidence and growth. Analysts said it was therefore only a matter of time before the dollar sank back towards the two-week lows it has already plumbed against the mark. ''These rate cuts may have been a suprise in terms of the time but they do not change anything and the overall bias for dollar/mark is still down,'' said Jesper Dannesboe, treasury economist at ABN Amro in London. The dollar rebounded as far as 1.6831 marks after the European rate cuts from session lows of 1.6625. However, by 1618 GMT, it had fallen back to 1.6735/40. More weakness could also be on the cards against the yen if speculation persists that European central banks are boosting the amount of Japanese currency they hold in their foreign exchange reserves before the launch of the euro. Talk that European central banks have been buying yen for marks and Ecus in the past day or two depressed the dollar to one-month lows of 117.58 yen and forced the mark down as much as two percent to troughs near 70.50 yen. Analysts were sceptical about whether such diversification was already underway and said the yen's gains could prove fleeting. ''A diversifying of reserves is possible as a long-running issue but it's difficult to see it happening as a near-term process,'' said Larry Hatheway, global head of strategy at Warburg Dillon Read in London. A renewed focus on economic fundamentals is likely to leave the yen vulnerable given the weakness of the Japanese economy, which suffered an unprecedented fourth consecutive quarter of contraction, according to data released overnight. However, it will take a significantly stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report on Friday to convince traders of the wisdom of betting aggressively on a stronger dollar/mark, analysts said. ''Today's rate cuts gave the dollar temporary support but the focus will now be on the U.S. payroll numbers on Friday which could shift rate-cut speculation to the U.S.,'' said Nick Stamenkovic, economist at Bank Austria Creditanstalt Futures. Speculation of lower U.S. rates are also likely to mount if Latin American markets fall victim to concern that a setback to the Brazilian government's fiscal austerity plan will jeopardise its chances of winning international loans. Talk of more U.S. rate cuts will leave the dollar particularly vulnerable against the mark, and its successor the euro, given that the European Central Bank is now under no pressure to cut rates. ''The rate moves have taken the pressure off the ECB to do anything and it can now start with a clean slate as speculation of a rate cut will drop out,'' said Stamenkovic at BACA Futures. This view was reinforced after Bundesbank President Hans Tietmeyer said the rate cuts reflected economic conditions and ensured that the ECB would not be dogged by speculation about rate moves at the outset of EMU. Another currency which is expected to suffer against the mark on the basis of interest rate expectations is sterling. Speculation the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee will cut rates at next week's meeting grew as a result of today's easings in continental Europe, particularly as the domestic case for a rate cut is already strong, analysts said.

To: banco$ who wrote (110)	12/12/1998 2:19:00 PM
From: banco$	Respond to of 289

"loss of more than 10 million jobs, mainly in the emerging economies." Tackling the international financial crisis (A4-0441/98 - Randzio-Plath) Reporting for the Economic and Monetary Committee, Christa Randzio-Plath (D, PES) will be putting forward a number of ideas for tackling the present international crisis which started in Asia over one year ago and has so far cost hundreds of billions of dollars and the loss of more than 10 million jobs, mainly in the emerging economies. Mrs Randzio-Plath blames poor supervision of the financial sector and 'crony capitalism' with banks lending unsustainable amounts as the main reasons for the crisis. Her draft resolution is therefore calling for increased transparency in the operations of the financial markets and stricter monitoring of international banking activities. The Commission should play a more active role in pushing for common standards within the EU. Proposed codes of conduct by international institutions such as the IMF are therefore welcomed and should include qualification for financial trades. However, Mrs Randzio-Plath believes there is a need for a substantial reform of the international financial institutions which are now 50 years old. There is also a call to reduce the debts of the poorest heavily indebted countries. As far as the EU is concerned, Mrs Randzio-Plath thinks there is a need for the Commission to draw up an action plan to prepare Europe for the worst eventuality. Votes without debate europarl.eu.int

To: banco$ who wrote (110)	12/21/1998 8:02:00 PM
From: banco$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 289

Euro area could cut rates further, IMF says WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - European countries preparing to launch a single currency next month could cut interest rates further should the world economic crisis prove to be a larger than expected drag on growth, the IMF said on Monday. In its World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund said December's cut in borrowing costs by the 11 European states participating in the euro was timely in view of the downturn in the world economy and the need to maintain growth. ''Given the subdued prospects for inflation, the considerable amount of slack, and the more severe implications of downside -- relative to upside -- risks, scope remains for additional interest rate reductions should growth prospects weaken further,'' the IMF report said. Noting the move to a common European currency was ''proceeding smoothly'', the IMF warned governments in the euro zone to refrain from spending their budgets on trying to boost economic growth in order to cut unemployment lines. It said such measures could weaken confidence in the euro currency and limit the policy options available for the European Central Bank. Any increases in public expenditure should be balanced by cuts elsewhere in budgets and governments also needed to reform their economies to curb spending and create room for tax cuts. ''In particular, labor market reforms remain crucial to bring unemployment down on a sustainable basis,'' the IMF said. Turning to economic prospects in the single currency area, the lending agency said economic growth was slowing due to the global economic downturn and noted several domestic measures of business activity were also less robust. On the domestic front, the IMF saw risks to the economies of the euro area from possible corrections to inventories in Italy or Germany, a drag on growth from the phasing out of auto incentives in Italy and a general fall in consumer confidence should unemployment start to rise again. On the external front, it said export growth would be undermined by the recent appreciation of the euro area currencies against the dollar, although this would be offset to some extent by some depreciation against the Japanese yen. The IMF forecast an average increase in gross domestic product in the currency area of 2.4 percent in 1999 after 2.8 percent this year. Unemployment would fall slightly to 11.2 percent from 11.6 percent this year while the inflation rate would rise to 1.4 percent in 1999 from 1.3 percent.

To: banco$ who wrote (110)	12/21/1998 8:08:00 PM
From: banco$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 289

and "ECB's Duisenberg Seen Discouraging Euro Rate-Cut Hopes Tomorrow" bloomberg.com

To: banco$ who wrote (110)	12/22/1998 7:14:00 PM
From: banco$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 289

Benchmark Rate of 3% Set for Euro Zone Compiled by Our Staff From Dispatches (International Herald Tribune) FRANKFURT - The European Central Bank, in its last meeting before the introduction of the single European currency on Jan. 1, confirmed Tuesday that it would set an initial benchmark interest rate of 3 percent for the euro zone. Wim Duisenberg, president of the bank, which will manage monetary policy for the 11 countries adopting the euro, said there would be no further easing in interest rates in the euro zone for the foreseeable future. Three percent is the current benchmark rate in 10 of the 11 countries. But some analysts said that the bank could cut rates, noting that it set its least expensive bank lending rate, the deposit rate, at 2 percent, less than the 2.5 percent for the comparable rate in Germany. ''A semi-rate cut adds to rate-cut hopes,'' said Holger Schmieding, an economist at Merrill Lynch. To limit market fluctuations amid expected heavy trading at the currency's debut, the bank set a narrow range for all its rates for the first weeks. The bank set a ceiling on the emergency borrowing rate, its most expensive rate, of 3.25 percent and a floor on the deposit rate of 2.75 percent through Jan. 21. After that, the emergency rate may rise to 4.5 percent and the deposit rate fall to 2 percent, the bank said. The countries starting the single currency are Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, Ireland and Austria. All except Italy cut their benchmark rates to 3 percent on Dec. 3; Italy cut its rate to 3.5 percent. The central bank called the move a ''de facto'' establishment of the Jan. 1 rate for the euro. The bank said it intended to maintain that rate ''for the foreseeable future.''

To: banco$ who wrote (110)	12/23/1998 7:54:00 PM
From: banco$	Respond to of 289

Italy's CB cut interest rates to 3 percent; 11 "in" states on par. Wednesday December 23 Bank of Italy Cuts Interest Rate ROME (AP) -- Moving into line with other countries adopting Europe's new single currency, the Bank of Italy said today it is lowering its discount rate to 3 percent. The reduction from 3.5 percent for the interest charged on loans by the central bank is effective Dec. 28. On Jan. 1, euro is launched by 11 countries -- Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal. The Italian central bank's key rate started 1998 at 5.5 percent, more than 2 percentage points higher than key rates in France or Germany. The bank began to cautiously reduce the gap with a cut on April 21 after European leaders agreed that Italy's budget deficits were being curbed and inflation tamed and said Italy should join European economic and monetary union. Italy's EMU membership was officially sealed at a special summit on May 3, but the Bank of Italy remained cautious in lowering rates in order to keep the lira, once one of Europe's most volatile currencies, steady. When it participated in the wave of concerted European rate cuts on Dec. 3, the Bank of Italy stopped short of the 3 percent level struck by all other euro partners. Instead, it cut its discount rate to 3.5 percent from 4.0 percent.