Euro rebounds after China dismisses report about euro
Write:
Courtland [2011-05-20]
The euro rebounded against major currencies on Thursday after China's foreign exchange regulator dismissed a report that China was reviewing its euro holdings.
The Financial Times, without citing sources, reported Wednesday that China was reviewing its holdings of eurozone debt in the wake of the crisis that has swept through the region's bond markets.
Representatives of China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange(SAFE), which manages the reserves under the country's central bank, has been meeting with foreign bankers in Beijing in recent days to discuss the issue, according to the report which drove the euro lower in Wednesday trading.
The FT's report was totally "groundless", the SAFE said Thursday in a statement. Europe will remain one of its key investment markets, the regulator said.
The SAFE said China supported the measures taken by the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stabilize the financial markets.
"We believe, that with the concerted efforts by international community, the euro zone will definitely overcome difficulty and safeguard the stable and healthy development of the financial markets in Europe," said the statement.
China would continue to follow a principle of diversification in investing its foreign exchange reserves as a "responsible and long-term" investor, the SAFE said.
The euro rose sharply in New York trading hours as the statement eased worries over the euro. The 16-nation single currency rose to a session high just under 1.2400 dollars before giving back some gains.
The U.S. real GDP grew 3.0 percent in the first quarter, according to the second estimate by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Commerce Department. U.S. initial jobless claims fell 14,000 to 460,000 last week, the Labor Department reported. Both reports were weaker than expected but still suggesting steady recovery.
Measures announced by European countries to tackle fiscal problems point "in the right direction," IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Thursday. He also said there were good reason to believe that the European economy will "come back on track rapidly". Kahn forecasted a 3.0 percent growth of U.S. economy this year, and 1.0 percent to 1.5 percent growth for Europe.
The euro buy 1.2360 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.2192 dollars it bought late Wednesday. The pound rose to 1.4581 dollars from 1.4383 dollars. The dollar fell to 1.0498 Canadian dollars from 1.0682 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.1521 Swiss francs from 1.1593 Swiss francs. It rose to 90.93 Japanese yen from 89.94 Japanese yen.