FXstreet.com (Córdoba) – The Japanese retail sales grew by 0.4% over the June month the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said today. This increase brings the retail sales back to its April level matching expectations and following a decrease of 2.0% the previous month.

Over the year to June the retail sales increased by 3.2% from a 2.8% rise over the year to May.

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So much for a rate hike this year

One of the hopes for the economy has been that the Fed will have reason to hike rates by the end of the year. However, with the release of the latest Fed minutes, it appears that this is an unlikely scenario. More than half of the FOMC members have a dour outlook for the rest of this year.

GFT’s Kathy Lien reports in FX360 on the latest interest rate developments:

Any hope of a rate hike this year has been dashed by today’s release as the prospect of weaker growth and inflation keeps the central bank on hold.

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) – The year over year retail sector performance improved significantly,…

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The Euro has now declined for six consecutive months against the Dollar. It is down 25% from its 2008 high and 15% in the year-to-date. It declined 8% in the month of May alone. En route to a four year low, the Euro also fell below the 50% retracement level ($1.21) of its rally from [...]

The Canadian Dollar’

Currency markets operate in funny ways. Greece’s fiscal problems are hardly a new development. During years of boom and bust alike, it ran unsustainable budget deficits. Why investors have decided to fret now – as opposed to last year or next year, for example – on the distant possibility of default, is somewhat mysterious.
After all, [...]

The US dollar has started February in the same vein that it finished January, buoyed by evidence of US economic recovery, after Friday’s GDP numbers, and fears that China will implement measures to control its economic growth.
The dollar has also remained supported over sovereign debt concerns in, not only Greece, but also Spain and Portugal as the dollar index traded at its highest levels since July last year. These fears are being compounded by widening spreads differentials between 10 year German ,and Greek and Portuguese bonds.
EURUSD – the Euro has …Forex Rate – Forex and Exchange rates

Only a year ago, who could have conceived of such a possibility? At the time, the Canadian Dollar (aka Loonie) was in the doldrums, as a result of the credit crunch and concomitant collapse in commodity prices. In March, however, the Loonie began an extraordinary rally, and finished the year up 16%, almost perfectly offsetting [...]