Euro loses ground versus US dollar

Euro loses ground versus US dollar

Story link: Euro loses ground versus US dollar

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The euro lost ground to the US dollar this week, hurt by remarks from European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet which implied that Eurozone interest rate cuts are coming soon.

In late morning trade in New York on Friday, the dollar was at $1.4498 to the euro, while the pound traded at 74.50p to the shared currency and the yen stood at ¥155.8463 to the euro.

The shared currency has dropped 2.2 percent to the US dollar this week and has lost a4.5 percent to the yen so far this year.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars gained on both the US dollar and the euro, for the second consecutive week of gains for the aussie and the third week in a row of advances for the kiwi.

The Australian dollar has been helped by an interest rate increase to 7 percent, while New Zealand’s currency benefited from a drop in the unemployment rate to 3.4 percent in the last quarter of 2007.

At around 11: 30 a.m. in New York, the Australian dollar stood at A$1.6139 to the euro and at A$1.1132 to the US dollar, while the New Zealand dollar traded at NZ$1.2652 to the US dollar and at NZ$1.8344 to the euro.

The New Zealand dollar has gained 3.7 percent on the euro so far this year, while the Australian dollar is up 3 percent on the euro since the beginning of January.

The Canadian dollar was higher versus all major currencies on Friday after new data showed that more jobs were added there in January than expected, with 46,400 new jobs created during the month.

At just past 11 a.m. in New York the US dollar traded at $1.0036 to the Canadian dollar.