The euro moved ahead in early deals today, with investors still avoiding the dollar in thin pre-holiday trade. At 0900, the euro stood at USD1.2412, while against sterling, it was up at STG0.7033. The dollar saw yet another lifetime low against the euro yesterday, with a heightened security alert in the US providing yet another reason to sell the US currency. However, euro enthusiasm faded ahead of USD1.245, with USD1.25 seen as presenting strong psychological resistance, according to Geraldine Concagh, senior economist with AIB Global Treasury.
Today sees a slew of US numbers, including final Q3 GDP, December's consumer sentiment and November's personal income and expenditure data. "The GDP data should reinforce the view that the economy is recovering. However, a strong number has already been discounted by the market and there is little evidence of any buying interest in the dollar," said Concagh. Sterling lost ground to the euro yesterday, reportedly driven lower by year-end conversions of sterling receipts into euros.//www.fxcentre.com