The dollar is declining against all of its major competitors on Monday as concerns over a potential intervention in Syria continue to weigh on investor sentiment. Congress returns from its summer recess to debate a resolution authorizing military action this week. President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a national address Tuesday evening, in an effort to convince the American people of the need for an attack on Syria in response to the government’s alleged use of chemical weapons.
The early portion of the trading week will be relatively light on U.S. economic data. The Federal Reserve is due to report U.S. consumer credit for July later this afternoon, but there are no reports due to be released on Tuesday.
The Bank of France on Monday upgraded its growth outlook for the third quarter, as business confidence recorded a notable improvement in August. The central bank forecasts that the French economy will expand 0.2 percent in the third quarter, which is higher than the 0.1 percent growth estimated earlier.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said Saturday that the country’s six-year long recession will end in 2014. Next year “will be a year of recovery for the Greek economy”, Samaras said in a speech at ThessalonĂki trade fair. The recession this year will be smaller than widely forecast, he said.
The dollar has dropped to a 1-week low of $1.3262 against the Euro on Monday, from Friday’s month and a half high of $1.3109.
Eurozone’s investor confidence increased in September to the second-highest level on record, and to a significantly larger extent than economists had forecast, as the region emerged from its long-drawn recession in the second quarter, a closely watched survey revealed Monday.
Data from a survey conducted by think-tank Sentix showed that the headline investor confidence index for the Eurozone climbed to 6.5 in September from -4.9 in August. Economists were looking for a score of -4.
U.K. Chancellor George Osborne on Monday said the British economy is turning a corner but many risks remain. Although the economic plan of government is working, “these are still the early stages of recovery,” he noted.
“The evidence suggests tentative signs of a balanced, broad based and sustainable recovery, but we cannot take this for granted,” Osborne said in a speech in London.
The greenback has fallen to a 2 1/2 month low of $1.5732 against the pound sterling on Monday, from Friday’s high of $1.5560.
The buck has retreated from an early high of Y100.096 against the Japanese Yen on Monday, to around Y99.500.
Japan’s gross domestic product was up 0.9 percent in the second quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months, the Cabinet Office said in Monday’s revised report. The headline figure is up from the 0.6 percent increase that was suggested in the August 12 preliminary report. It also ended up being unchanged from the first quarter, although the revision was slightly below estimates for a gain of 1.0 percent.
Japan posted a current account surplus of 577.3 billion yen in July, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday, remaining in the green for the sixth straight month after three consecutive months of deficit. The headline beat expectations for a surplus of 539.6 billion yen following the 336.3 billion yen surplus in June.
Japan’s consumer confidence deteriorated for the third successive month in August, contrary to economists’ forecast for an improvement, latest data showed Monday. The consumer confidence index dropped to 43 in August from 43.6 in July, the Cabinet Office said. In June and May, the readings were 44.3 and 45.7 respectively. The index was forecast improve to 44 in August.