Euro shoots past 1.57 dollars on positive German survey

The European single currency breached 1.57 dollars on Wednesday after a buoyant reading on business sentiment in Germany, the biggest economy in the 15-nation eurozone, analysts said.In European trading, the euro climbed to 1.5717 dollars from 1.5647 in New York late on Tuesday. Against the Japanese currency, the dollar fell to 99.36 yen on Wednesday from 99.98 on Tuesday.Later Wednesday, dealers will digest US economic releases that include new residential home sales and durable goods orders.The foreign exchange market focused Wednesday on news that German business confidence posted a surprise jump in March, according to a key survey that pointed to a bullish outlook in Europe's biggest economy.In the closely-watched business climate index, calculated each month by the Munich-based economic research institute Ifo, the March reading climbed to 104.8 points from 104.1 points in February.CIBC analyst Audrey Childe-Freeman described the Ifo survey as "euro positive data." Economists polled by Thomson Financial News had forecast the index would fall to 103.4 points."The further rise in the German Ifo business climate index in March has added to the evidence that the economy is bearing up surprisingly well against an adverse global environment," said Jennifer McKeown at consultancy Capital Economics.For its monthly survey, Ifo polls 7,000 companies about their current business conditions and their outlook for the next six months. The survey showed relative optimism among German firms on both scores.Elsewhere, the British pound dipped against the dollar after the Bank of England's chief economist, Charlie Bean, predicted that the size of Britain's current account deficit meant that sterling was likely to fall."Sterling is likely to move to the downside," said Bank of England policymaker Bean to a parliamentary committee in London.Bean is one of the nine members of the BoE's interest rate-setting monetary policy committee.The dollar sank Tuesday as a fresh batch of negative US data weighed on the greenback, dealers said.The US unit weakened after a consumer confidence index from the Conference Board sank to 64.5 points in March from 76.4 the previous month.It was the lowest level for five years and sharply below the 73.4 points expected by economists.A separate report showed that home prices slumped 10.7 percent in January from a year ago in 20 major US cities.In London on Wednesday, the euro changed hands at 1.5717 dollars against 1.5647 late on Tuesday, at 156.23 yen (156.46), 0.7851 pounds (0.7795) and 1.5723 Swiss francs (1.5728).The dollar stood at 99.36 yen (99.98) and 1.0005 Swiss francs (1.0049).The pound was at 2.0012 dollars (2.0062).On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold climbed to 944.92 dollars per ounce, from 926.75 dollars late on Tuesday.
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As in the days of Noah....