By FX Empire.com
Europe continued to dominate the headlines on Thursday, where investors were left disappointed after Spanish and French bond sales failed to meet expectations, while yields on European governmental bonds continued to rise amid mounting concerns the European debt crisis is worsening and could be spreading into major economies including Italy and Spain.
Nonetheless, better than expected data from the United States eased some of the pessimism in markets, although the general mood in markets remained gloomy, where the housing starts and building permits came out better than expectations, while jobless claims fell below forecasts to signal the ongoing gradual improvement in the U.S. labor market. Nevertheless, the Philadelphia Fed index eased in November below forecasts.
The U.S. dollar was lower against a basket of major currencies on Thursday, where the U.S. dollar index was trading at 78.01, compared with the opening level at 78.17. The Euro rebounded to the upside against the Dollar, where the EUR/USD pair traded at $1.3522, compared with the opening level at $1.3439, the British Pound also gained against the Dollar, where the GBP/USD pair traded around $1.5778, compared with the opening level at $1.5703, and the U.S. dollar extended its drop against the Japanese Yen, where the USD/JPY pair was trading around 76.99, compared with the opening level at 77.07.
Stocks in the United States fluctuated by opening on Thursday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by nearly 0.20% to trade around 11,930, while the S&P 500 index was lower by nearly 0.10% to trade around 1235. European stock indexes were lower before closing on Thursday, where FTSE 100 was down by nearly 1.40% to trade at 5429 and the DAX was down by nearly 0.40% to close around 5889.
Gold prices fell on Thursday to trade now around $1740 an ounce and crude oil prices fell but remained above $100 to trade around $101 a barrel.
Originally posted here
