In currency spreads, US dollar did better than sterling but there was little to choose between them; just half a cent over the shortened six-day week.

Neither currency was at the focus of investor interest. That honour went to the euro; the dollar’s movements were reactive rather than proactive.

Investors saw nothing in the US economic data to persuade them that the previous week’s unexpectedly weak payrolls figure was symptomatic of a deeper problem.

Weekly jobless numbers were higher for initial claims, lower for continuing claims. The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book assessment of the national economy spoke of “modest to moderate” growth.

Inflation subsided to 2.7% in March, giving rise to renewed talk that the Fed might launch a third round of quantitative easing and add to the $2 trillion it has printed in the last four years.

Contracts for Difference Trading and Financial Spread Trading do involve a high level of risk. Investment formats such as these are margined which means that it is possible to lose more than your original stake.

You should always invest using capital that you can afford to lose; before making any trades make sure that you recognise the risk. Be aware that Contracts for Difference Trading and Spread Trading might not always be suitable for your trading strategy; where you think it is necessary obtain independent trading guidance.

Weekly forex review by MoneyCorp.

Sterling/euro ploughed an unusually straight furrow, hardly straying outside a three-quarter-cent channel.

Events took a new turn when the Far East opened for business this Monday morning and sterling’s fans made another attempt to dislodge the backlog of sellers who had been queuing to buy euros at January’s high.

As London opened it looked as though the job might have been done, with sterling apparently forming a base at €1.2150, but there was still no conclusive upward break.

FX spread trading investors are unhappy with the situation in Spain, where the government is finding it increasingly expensive to borrow money.

Even though the European Central Bank is likely to restart its buying of Eurozone government bonds (i.e. Spanish ones), more will be necessary to revive confidence fully.

In the meantime, sterling will have the chance to establish itself in a slightly higher range against the euro.

Whether it will take that opportunity remains to be seen.

Contracts for Difference Trading and Financial Spread Trading do involve a high level of risk. Investment formats such as these are margined which means that it is possible to lose more than your original stake.

You should always invest using capital that you can afford to lose; before making any trades make sure that you recognise the risk. Be aware that Contracts for Difference Trading and Spread Trading might not always be suitable for your trading strategy; where you think it is necessary obtain independent trading guidance.

Weekly forex review by MoneyCorp.

Another difficult week for the euro last week took GBP/EUR spreads close to their January high and to within two and a half cents of what is now the 41-month high it achieved in mid-2010.

A good part of that success was down to Sterling’s own efforts, notably the relatively strong UK purchasing managers’ index readings for the manufacturing, construction and services sectors.

They were all better than anything Euroland could show.

A negative for the euro was Spain’s disappointing auction of government bonds. Demand was poor and spread trading investors demanded a higher rate of interest.

The European Central Bank exacerbated the situation when its president told a press conference there would be no repeat of the Long Term Refinancing Operations that put cheap three-year money in the hands of the region’s banks.

Without fresh support the fear is that a buyers’ strike could push Spain down the path already trodden by Greece and Portugal.

Contracts for Difference Trading and Financial Spread Trading do involve a high level of risk. Investment formats such as these are margined which means that it is possible to lose more than your original stake.

You should always invest using capital that you can afford to lose; before making any trades make sure that you recognise the risk. Be aware that Contracts for Difference Trading and Spread Trading might not always be suitable for your trading strategy; where you think it is necessary obtain independent trading guidance.

Weekly forex review by MoneyCorp.

Unusually, the New Zealand dollar lost touch with the Australian dollar last week.

Where the Aussie was virtually unchanged over the eight days against Sterling when London opened after the long weekend, the Kiwi was two cents to the good.

Its superior performance almost certainly stems from the week’s economic data: Australia’s statistics were mediocre at best while New Zealand had no ecostats to offer at all, good or bad.

The low profile served the Kiwi well.

The only wobble came early this Tuesday morning when China unexpectedly reported a trade surplus for March.

Exports were up on the month and imports were down. FX spread trading investors inevitably interpreted the data as pointing to less demand in China for New Zealand’s exports.

Figures later this week will force the Kiwi out of hiding; the Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion and the Business NZ purchasing managers’ index are both important indicators of current and future activity.

Contracts for Difference Trading and Financial Spread Trading do involve a high level of risk. Investment formats such as these are margined which means that it is possible to lose more than your original stake.

You should always invest using capital that you can afford to lose; before making any trades make sure that you recognise the risk. Be aware that Contracts for Difference Trading and Spread Trading might not always be suitable for your trading strategy; where you think it is necessary obtain independent trading guidance.

Weekly forex review by MoneyCorp.

Euroland did not exactly cover itself with economic glory, even though the week got off to a decent start with improvements to IFO’s measures of the German business climate and expectations.

Eurostat’s assessments of industrial and economic confidence for the euro area as a whole were either unchanged or lower in March, while German retail sales headed lower for a fourth consecutive month.

Much was made of the EU finance ministers’ meeting at the end of the week. It was intended that they would agree to increase the Euroland bailout kitty but not every member state was equally enthusiastic.

In the end they committed to another half billion euros which would raise total bailout resources – spent and unspent – to more than a trillion euros.

It was roughly what online spread trading investors had expected and they had little difficulty in containing their enthusiasm, given that the pot is still too small to rescue Italy or Spain.

Contracts for Difference Trading and Financial Spread Trading do involve a high level of risk. Investment formats such as these are margined which means that it is possible to lose more than your original stake.

You should always invest using capital that you can afford to lose; before making any trades make sure that you recognise the risk. Be aware that Contracts for Difference Trading and Spread Trading might not always be suitable for your trading strategy; where you think it is necessary obtain independent trading guidance.

Weekly forex review by MoneyCorp.

The Loonie kept close tabs on the US dollar, with CAD/USD spending most of its time above parity with the Greenback and only dipping below par briefly last Thursday afternoon.

Elsewhere in the FX spread trading markets, the Loonie conceded just over a cent to the pound.

Canadian economic data were typically thin on the ground.

The industrial product and raw material price indices, akin to Britain’s producer price index, showed manufacturers’ costs falling by -0.5% in February while factory gate prices rose by 0.2%.

The implication is positive for the Canadian dollar, in that manufacturers feel able to raise prices even though their costs are not going up.

Gross domestic product grew by 0.1% in January, twice the pace of December’s increase.

Contracts for Difference Trading and Financial Spread Trading do involve a high level of risk. Investment formats such as these are margined which means that it is possible to lose more than your original stake.

You should always invest using capital that you can afford to lose; before making any trades make sure that you recognise the risk. Be aware that Contracts for Difference Trading and Spread Trading might not always be suitable for your trading strategy; where you think it is necessary obtain independent trading guidance.

Weekly forex review by MoneyCorp.

The GBP/USD did not have much argument with one another, changing by less than quarter of a cent over the seven days and occupying the middle of the leader board.

A range of less than two cents suggested that investors have no quarrel with Sterling’s position in the upper reaches of the four-cent range it has occupied for two months.

There were no seriously important US economic data to provide guidance for the dollar.

Of the figures that did appear, at least half seemed to relate to residential property.

The NAHB housing market index, which measures building activity and orders, was steadily weak at 28% in March.

February’s housing starts and building permits were steady. New and existing home sales for the same month were disappointing though, down by -1.6% and -0.9% when both had been expected to rise.

In the week ahead spread trading investors will be focusing on a multitude of speeches by Federal Reserve bosses. If there seems to be any consensus among them for renewed quantitative easing, the dollar could feel the pinch.

Contracts for Difference Trading and Financial Spread Trading do involve a high level of risk. Investment formats such as these are margined which means that it is possible to lose more than your original stake.

You should always invest using capital that you can afford to lose; before making any trades make sure that you recognise the risk. Be aware that Contracts for Difference Trading and Spread Trading might not always be suitable for your trading strategy; where you think it is necessary obtain independent trading guidance.

Weekly forex review by MoneyCorp.