Thursday July 30, 11:42 AM
Euro firms against dollar
LONDON (AFP) - The European single currency climbed Thursday against the dollar on news of improving eurozone business and consumer confidence, analysts said.
In late morning London trade, the euro rose to 1.4075 dollars from 1.4049 dollars in New York late on Wednesday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar firmed to 95.09 yen from 95.02 yen late Wednesday.
European business and consumer confidence firmed in July for the fourth month running, according to an EU survey Thursday, in a modest sign of encouragement for Europe's struggling economies.
"Better-than-expected confidence data gave a small boost to euro/dollar," said Credit Agricole (Paris: FR0000045072 - news) analyst Frederik Ducrozet.
"The rise in confidence was broad-based across sectors, echoing the global improvement in other surveys," he said.
The European Commission's economic sentiment indicator for the 16 nations using the euro single currency rose to 76.0 points in July from 73.2 points in June, continuing a gradual climb away from a record low 64.6 points in March.
The figure topped analyst forecasts for a rise to 75.3 points.
"Recovery of the industrial confidence indicator continued, backed by a further improvement in production expectations and normalisation in the level of stocks," the commission said in a statement.
But it noted that "both stocks of finished goods and production expectations remain below their long-term averages; more importantly, industrial activity remains weak, as manifested by the all-time low level of capacity utilisation."
The biggest signs of improvement in confidence were seen in Britain, up 5.0 points, and in Spain, Italy and Germany, while the rise in France, the Netherlands and Poland was marginal.
Investors were meanwhile digesting the Federal Reserve's Beige Book survey which said the US economy was showing signs of stability and that the pace of decline in 12 major economic regions was moderating.
While fears about the financial system have abated and recent economic figures point to an upturn, investors remain cautious, according to analysts.
A key factor for the market outlook will be monthly US labour market figures due out next week, with investors hoping for a moderation in the pace of job losses.
Players were also digesting data showing Japan's factory output rose 2.4 percent in June from the previous month, roughly in line with market expectations.
In London on Thursday, the euro was changing hands at 1.4075 dollars against 1.4049 dollars late on Wednesday, at 133.67 yen (133.51), 0.8523 pounds (0.8574) and 1.5294 Swiss francs (1.5268).
The dollar stood at 95.09 yen (95.02) and 1.0879 Swiss francs (1.0866).
The pound was at 1.6494 dollars (1.6377).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold edged up to 931.57 dollars an ounce from 931 dollars an ounce late on Wednesday.
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