International & World Report

The euro ended the year in small form. For the first time since early September, the single currency rose again Friday to below $ 1.43 and briefly touched a low point, on Monday at 1.4280 dollar. Last month, the euro was trading at $ 1.50 again, "a disaster," was then proclaimed Henri Guaino, special adviser to Nicolas Sarkozy, now more discreet about the changes. Once is not custom, it is fundamental to the European economy, considered worse than in the U.S., affecting the markets.

The decline of the euro began in early December with the debt crisis Greek degraded by Fitch. It widened last week when Standard & Poor's followed this movement. "The market remains skeptical about the state budget of Greece, which should continue to dampen prospects for the euro," says Jane Foley cabinet Forex.com.

Debts under surveillance

One Member State trembles, and the whole currency area flickering. Especially that Greece is not alone in worrying the markets. The debts of Spain and Ireland, which have surged with the crisis, are also under close surveillance.

Financial solidarity with countries in distress, implicitly shown by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the European Council has not been enough to reassure markets. Even if they are all very positive news from the United States seem, by comparison, the best news for investors. "The United States are ultimately not so badly placed compared to other major world economies," says a strategist at HSBC in Hong Kong.

Overseas, unemployment has stopped growing in November, the U.S. economy could even recreate jobs in the first quarter.In 2010, all institutes ensure the growth of the United States looks twice as strong as that of the eurozone. The dollar's rise also reflects an early turning point for monetary policy. The Fed said after its last monetary policy committee that it would leave its policy rate close to zero for a "prolonged period", but it plans to turn a gradual withdrawal of liquidity from month March which will make dollar investments more attractive.

A third factor supporting the dollar this year, said Patrick Artus, Research Director at Natixis: purchases of greenbacks by the Chinese central bank is rife, Beijing had no intention of letting the yuan appreciate against the dollar …

• The euro on the threshold of $ 1.40
• The euro is losing the battle of the weak currency
• Barack Obama on the debt, "Enough!"
• An influential economist predicted the explosion of the Eurozone
• Euro: Angela Merkel shook hands with Sarkozy

Tags: business, company, events, people, small   Posted economy, life, people, technology, world |