Investing.com - The euro trimmed gains against the U.S. dollar on Thursday and was mixed to lower against its other major counterparts, amid speculation that France may be facing an imminent downgrade while worries over the financial crisis in the euro zone continued to weigh.
During European late morning trade, the euro pared gains against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD up 0.06% to hit 1.3056, down from the session high of 1.3119.
Trading volumes were expected to remain light ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend, as many traders have closed books before the end of the year, reducing liquidity in the market and increasing the volatility as the threat of mass credit ratings downgrades for euro zone countries lingered.
The single currency came under pressure earlier as concerns persisted over the potential effects of the European Central Bank’s unprecedented EUR489.19 billion three-year loan operation on Wednesday, intended to avoid a credit crunch in the euro zone.
The heavy demand from 523 European lenders underlined concerns over the scale of the financial crisis in the euro zone.
The euro hovered close to an 11-month trough against the pound, with EUR/GBP up 0.01% to hit 0.8325.
In the U.K., the Office for National Statistics said earlier that the country’s economy expanded 0.6% during the third quarter, up from a preliminary estimate of 0.5%. Annualized GDP rose at a rate of 0.5%, in line with expectations and unrevised from an initial estimate.
Separately, the ONS said that the country’s current account deficit widened to GBP15.2 billion in the third quarter, the highest since records began in 1955. Economists had expected the current account deficit to stand at GBP5.5 billion.
The single currency was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with EUR/JPY adding 0.13% to hit 101.98 and EUR/CHF advancing 0.14% to hit 1.2227.
Earlier Thursday, the Bank of Japan warned that the country's recovery has stalled as business sentiment deteriorated in the wake of weaker export demand.
Meanwhile Japan’s government lowered its real gross domestic product forecast earlier to a 0.1% contraction from the 0.5% growth predicted previously, citing a strong yen and the effects of the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis on Japanese exports.
Elsewhere, the euro was broadly lower against the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars, with EUR/CAD shedding 0.13% to hit 1.3378, EUR/AUD falling 0.20% to hit 1.2887 and EUR/NZD losing 0.18% to hit 1.6891.
Official data released earlier showed that New Zealand’s GDP rose 0.8% in the third quarter, beating expectations for a 0.6% gain. New Zealand’s GDP grew by an unrevised 0.1% in the previous quarter.
Later in the day, ECB President Mario Draghi and Bank of England Governor Mervyn King were to hold a joint press conference in Frankfurt after a meeting of the European Systemic Risk Board.
During European late morning trade, the euro pared gains against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD up 0.06% to hit 1.3056, down from the session high of 1.3119.
Trading volumes were expected to remain light ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend, as many traders have closed books before the end of the year, reducing liquidity in the market and increasing the volatility as the threat of mass credit ratings downgrades for euro zone countries lingered.
The single currency came under pressure earlier as concerns persisted over the potential effects of the European Central Bank’s unprecedented EUR489.19 billion three-year loan operation on Wednesday, intended to avoid a credit crunch in the euro zone.
The heavy demand from 523 European lenders underlined concerns over the scale of the financial crisis in the euro zone.
The euro hovered close to an 11-month trough against the pound, with EUR/GBP up 0.01% to hit 0.8325.
In the U.K., the Office for National Statistics said earlier that the country’s economy expanded 0.6% during the third quarter, up from a preliminary estimate of 0.5%. Annualized GDP rose at a rate of 0.5%, in line with expectations and unrevised from an initial estimate.
Separately, the ONS said that the country’s current account deficit widened to GBP15.2 billion in the third quarter, the highest since records began in 1955. Economists had expected the current account deficit to stand at GBP5.5 billion.
The single currency was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with EUR/JPY adding 0.13% to hit 101.98 and EUR/CHF advancing 0.14% to hit 1.2227.
Earlier Thursday, the Bank of Japan warned that the country's recovery has stalled as business sentiment deteriorated in the wake of weaker export demand.
Meanwhile Japan’s government lowered its real gross domestic product forecast earlier to a 0.1% contraction from the 0.5% growth predicted previously, citing a strong yen and the effects of the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis on Japanese exports.
Elsewhere, the euro was broadly lower against the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars, with EUR/CAD shedding 0.13% to hit 1.3378, EUR/AUD falling 0.20% to hit 1.2887 and EUR/NZD losing 0.18% to hit 1.6891.
Official data released earlier showed that New Zealand’s GDP rose 0.8% in the third quarter, beating expectations for a 0.6% gain. New Zealand’s GDP grew by an unrevised 0.1% in the previous quarter.
Later in the day, ECB President Mario Draghi and Bank of England Governor Mervyn King were to hold a joint press conference in Frankfurt after a meeting of the European Systemic Risk Board.