BUSINESS ERA

The Dollar plummeted against the major currencies on Monday, as Wall Street rallied. The bullishness in the U.S. stock market also spread to Britain and the Euro-Zone. The Dow Jones rose by over 1%, while the S&P extended its best rally since 1998. Amongst the biggest gainers were banking stocks. The bullish stock market led to a fall in the Dollar across the board, as traders ditched the safe-haven USD for riskier assets in Monday's trading. This was exasperated due to traders wishing to further their profits in stocks as the quarter comes to an end.

The USD slipped about 80 pips vs. the EUR to finish trading at 1.4115. This was helped as Euro-Zone economic confidence increased more than expected this month. The Dollar's behavior was much the same against the Pound, as the GBP/USD pair rose 160 pips to the 1.6634 level. The GBP's strength may have been owed to its dependence on U.S. economic optimism. However, against the JPY the greenback extended its rally for the second day, as investors dropped the "ultra" safe-haven Yen for the "less" safe-haven USD.

Looking ahead today, there is plenty of economic news that is likely to help determine the volatility in the forex market. The releases from the U.S. are set to be the key to today. Traders are advised to pay attention to the Chicago PMI at 13:45 GMT and CB Consumer Confidence at 14:00 GMT. It is also advisable to follow the direction of the equity market, as this could be a key factor in determining the Dollar's strength later.

EUR - GBP Boosted by U.S. Optimism

The Pound recorded a volatile, but bullish trading session yesterday against its major crosses, as it benefited from the optimism from the U.S. The rally in the British stock market was encouraged by Wall Street's rally. What has been much of a pattern recently has seen the Pound rising whenever equities make significant gains in the U.S. and Britain. This may be explained by Britain's dependence on the financial sector. With this sector doing well yesterday in the equities market lent the Pound a boost, helping us understand much of the behavior of the cable.

Both the GBP and EUR posted gains against the USD and JPY. The EUR/GBP was
32 pips lower at 0.8482. It seems that if global economies continue to prove, then we may see this pair continue to approach the 0.8400 level in the short-medium term.
The EUR was also helped yesterday by strong economic confidence figures from the Euro-Zone. This is a further signal that the economic situation in the Euro-Zone isn't as dire as some analysts originally forecast.

Today, there is plenty of data coming out of Britain and the Euro-Zone that is likely to determine the GBP and EUR crosses in today's trading against the major currencies. From Britain there is the release of the Nationwide HPI at 6:00 GMT and Current Account and GDP data at 8:30 GMT. From the Euro-Zone there is the publication of German Unemployment Change figures at 7:55 GMT and the CPI Flash Estimate at 9:00 GMT.