South African Rand Climbs on Metallic Commodities

The South African currency witnessed a rally this week that set the rand to the highest rate versus the U.S. dollar after a decreased appeal for the U.S. currency combined with an increase in rates of metallic commodities provided support for the rand to outperform a number of currencies.

South Africa is today, the leading exporter of precious metallic commodities in the world, and as the gold is reaching record highs, platinum is climbing and other commodities are gaining value in markets, the rand is rallying significantly, also benefiting from a wave of risk appetite in stocks that brought investors to inject money in emergent markets and abandon previous dollar-priced positions, forcing the U.S. currency to the lowest levels in more than 12 months. South Africa remains one of the highest-yieldings investment options and its currency is one of the top winners among emergent market currencies, together with the Brazilian real.

South Africa is one of the emergent markets that has been benefiting from a new optimistic scenario which is forcing commodities up, attracting investors to yield and decreasing the appeal for the safety provided by the greenback, as the global slump is becoming a past event. The rand is likely to experience further gains towards the end of the year, specially versus the dollar.

USD/ZAR traded at 7.2680 as of 13:19 GMT from a previous closing price of 7.3430 yesterday.

This article taken by topforexnews.com.

End of Dollar`s Downturn?

The U.S. currency finally posted gains versus most of 16 main traded currencies as some investors suggested that the recovery in the North American economy is not compatible with such losses in currency markets, providing support for the greenback to pare gains of most emergent market currencies which were climbing these week.

Several events changed market’s trends today after the European Central BankJean-Claude Trichet affirmed that U.S. government should support the strength of its currency, declining attractiveness for the euro, which also posted intense losses versus the pound this week. The U.S. dollar also gained on speculations regarding industrial production in the country, which is likely to increase further from the past month, a significant evidence that economic conditions are improving in the wealthiest country in the world. One of the few currencies that managed to control the dollar’s gains today was the pound, as optimism was renewed in the country after the central bank suggested that its quantitative easing problem will be suspended.

Mixed information is influencing on the volatility of the U.S. dollar, firstly the Federal Reserve affirmed that the fluctuations of the currency are acceptable, but now the European Central Bank starts to show concerns regarding a weakened dollar, causing a nebulous scenario for the greenback short term future.

EUR/USD traded at 1.4879 as of 11:40 GMT from a previous rate of 1.4962 hours earlier. USD/CAD traded at 1.0394 from 1.0312 in the intraday.

This article taken by topforexnews.com.

Dollars Gets A Lift From Weak Confidence Data

Dollar Gets A Lift From Weak Confidence Data

By Deborah Levine

The U.S. dollar gained ground versus the euro and Japanese yen on Friday as data showed gains in foreign funds flowing to the U.S. and weakness in consumer confidence spurred selling of stocks.

The dollar and British pound rebounded from recent lows scored the previous day as traders reversed bets that the dollar will fall further, and U.S. equities declined, easing pressure to continue selling the greenback.

"Going into the weekend, today's sell-off in the Dow provides players with a convenient excuse to take profit on short U.S. dollar positions and reload for next week," Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at The Bank of New York Mellon, wrote in emailed comments.

The U.S. dollar index (DXY) rose to 75.677, up from 75.480 in North American trade late Thursday after sliding to a series of 14-month lows earlier in the week.

The dollar bought 90.88 yen, up from 90.59 yen, giving up bigger gains earlier in the session.

The euro traded at $1.4882 versus the dollar, down from $1.4933 after failing to breach the psychologically important $1.50 level.

Reducing the attractiveness of equities and supporting the dollar, a report showed U.S. consumer sentiment pulled back more than anticipated this month.

The University of Michigan/Reuters index fell to 69.4 in early October from 73.5 in September. Analysts surveyed by MarketWatch expected, on average, for the index to read 72.

That followed a report showed U.S. industrial production jumped 0.7% last month, topping expectations. Capacity utilization rose to 70.5% in September from a revised 69.9% in August, also higher than anticipated.

"These diverging signals highlight the recent uncertainty" over whether third-quarter growth can be sustained, analysts at Action Economics wrote. "The downside risks as we approach year-end are clear."

An earlier report from the U.S. Treasury Department showed foreign investors nearly doubled purchases of U.S. assets in August.

Foreign official buyers sold more short-term assets and bought long-term securities. Private investors in other countries bought more U.S. equities and favored longer-term assets of all types, indicating more preference for riskier assets than Treasurys, noted foreign-exchange analysts at Barclays Capital.

Gains in stocks and other indications of investor willingness to make more aggressive investments over the last several months have been detrimental to the dollar, as its safe-haven status is no longer desired.

"Our overall assessment is that these numbers remain mediocre but are not nearly as negative as the July release," Barclays analysts wrote in a note.

Focus also returned to the lack of fluctuations in the Chinese yuan, a day after the U.S. Treasury repeated its previous finding that China was not formally manipulating its currency.

The People's Bank of China set the yuan's official rate 6.8270 against the dollar Friday, according to reports, down slightly from 6.8267 Thursday. The yuan is allowed to fluctuate on 0.5% on either side of the official daily rate.

China's foreign-exchange policy risks "unwinding" some of the progress made in reducing global trade imbalances during the financial crisis, the U.S. Treasury said Thursday in its latest report on foreign-exchange trading.

Weekly move

The dollar index is still headed towards a second weekly loss, sliding 1% from last Friday. The yen has seen a roughly 1% increase since last Friday. The shared euro is still up about 1.4% versus the dollar this week.

With much vocalization about the fall in the dollar's value, some analysts and policy makers alike point to the still orderly decline that has left the dollar index down 7% this year, which is not abnormal given the reversal of investor's need for safety in the credit crisis and a readjustment of imports and exports as consumer demand has slowed.

"No policy maker is going to argue for a weak dollar," said Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said Friday, according to news reports. Recent movement in the dollar "has to do with trade adjustment."

British pound

The battered pound was the biggest winner among major currencies, continuing to power higher versus the euro and the greenback a day after a Bank of England policy maker signaled satisfaction with the impact of the central bank's quantitative-easing strategy.

The British pound gained ground versus the dollar rising to $1.6340, up from $1.6270 Thursday. The euro slipped 0.9% versus sterling to 91.06 pence.

The British currency has advanced 2.6% this week on dollar.

Traders said the remarks by Paul Fisher, the bank's director of markets and member of the Monetary Policy Committee, were sufficient to trigger an explosive round of short covering. U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released last week showed a historic build-up of short positions against British pound futures, noted analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman.

"The fundamentals for the pound are still negative, with interest rate differentials favoring other currencies," they wrote. "Next week's minutes of the Bank of England meeting may also reinforce the fragile nature of the economic recovery, and the likelihood of rates remaining at this low level for some time."

Others cautioned that betting against the pound in the midst of a run of unexpectedly strong third-quarter earnings report by major banks could prove perilous.

"We would caution against being short GBP [selling the British pound] when U.S. bank earnings are again generally beating expectations, as markets treat GBP as a proxy for the performance of the financial sector," said Adam Cole, global head of FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets in London.

"Our short-term models also continue to show GBP heavily oversold relative to short rate expectations and bank stocks, consistent with other evidence that short-GBP is a seriously overcrowded trade currently," he wrote in emailed comments.

August trade data for the euro zone showed the 16-nation region swung to a larger-than- deficit with the rest of the world.

The figures come amid rising unease among euro-zone officials and businesses over the strength of the euro.

From a technical standpoint, the euro remains "slightly overbought" versus the dollar, "so perhaps its time to take a breather today," wrote Nicole Elliott, a technical analyst at Mizuho Corporate Bank.

Nonetheless, a "weekly close above $1.4800 would confirm that the next leg of the (euro) rally has started," she said.

This article taken by topforexnews.com.

An Introduction to Trade Dollars

A Post all about Trade Dollars Introduction.

The United States silver Trade Dollar is issued by the U.S. Mint mainly for trading purposes with the countries like chine, Korea and Japan. Mainly for the purpose of trading with china it was used extensively and to improve trade with china. Previously Mexican peso was used to trade with china. Later trade dollars replaces Mexican peso.

The trade dollars were minted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Carson City, and San Francisco from 1873 to 1885. More were minted in San Francisco as it was very near to the silver source. William barber, the mints chief engraver designed the coin which is composed of 90%silver, 10% copper and 420 grains in weight. The chopmarks are there to exhibit the originality and authenticity of the coins produced and used.

The U.S. trade dollars are facing some serious issues nowadays. Various qualities of U.S. trade dollars are found in china and made in china. The coin collectors are warned about it. They are advised to buy the coins from the known authentic source. The certified dealers are there to sell the coins and the collectors are asked to purchase from them to avoid the problems of fake. There is an existing fact which is quite astonishing that 90% of all the U.S. Trade dollars are fake (on Ebay). The good part of it is that the fake coins can be detected. The main major ways to deduct the fake coins are

*

There will be ladies head on the coin. The ribbon curls behind her head have holes in it in which the metal was chipped out of the dies.

*

Note the eagle in the coin. Its eyes will be full.

*

Note the rim. The reeds on the rim will be close together.

*

The fake coins look worn.

*

From the weight also the fake can be determined. The fake coins are silver washed around copper and will weigh only 18 grams. Remember the original coins weigh 420 grains

All the above denotes that the coin is fake. In the original coin the eyes of the eagle will be half shut or incused. All the above are just suggestions to find out the fake. These will not help one to find the fake always. Luck also plays a major role in finding the fake and avoiding them and the consequences.

In March 1955, Benjamin Stack advertised a pair of Trade dollars rarities. In 1884 and in 1885 he advertised for $6,500 in the book “The Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine”. The Trade dollars were auctioned in 1988 which is an astonishing fact which was a piece of information in the Norweb Collection. During the early American republic there was a considerable shortage of silver and gold coins. The silver coins are driven away for circulation in the late 1840. Due to Civil war, discovery of gold in California, monetary system the value of silver raised to $10,000,000 by 1864.

Trade Dollars in Commerce

This post teach how to Trade Dollars in Commerce.

Designed by the mint’s chief engraver William Barber, father of the famous engraver Charles E. Barber, the Trade Dollar was first minted in 1873. The purpose of the coin was for the expanding trade with countries in the Far East, especially China. In fact, the Trade Dollar isn’t a phenomena specific to the USA, as other countries such as Japan and Great Britain also issued Trade Dollars for commerce with Asia.

The US Trade Dollar

Congress started promoting American commerce overseas by authorizing a new .900 silver coin called US Trade Dollar. The coin weighed 420 grains compared to Mexican coin at 416 grains. It was also larger than its predecessor, which weighed 412.5 grains. In Peking, China the US trade dollar was proclaimed as official trade coin in the country overtaking lighter Mexican money.

In Asia the demand for US Trade Dollar was very strong. Most Trade Dollars ended up in Asia within two years of having been minted. In 1876 mine owners were unloading huge amounts of silver onto the market which caused a great backlash for the US Trade Dollar. Treasury Secretary John Sherman stopped commercial production of the coin in 1878. The rarest of all US Trade Dollars are those dated 1884 and 1885. These coins were made illegally for the collector of the Mint, William Idler.

Japan also made a trade dollar

The Japanese minted the Silver One Yen coin which is also known as the “Dragon Yen”. The coin was not much different from the US Trade Dollar coin. One could see a one yen circulating along with the US Trade Dollar. This coin was also issued for foreign trade, and it weighed at 27.22 grams and was .900 silver the same as the US Trade Dollar.

United Kingdom also made a trade dollar

The Opium War began when china stopped Britain from selling opium to its people. Silver dollars were directly involved in the result of the war. Britannia standing on shore, holding a trident in one hand and balancing a British shield in the other depicts that the British trade dollars mined exclusively for use in Far East. The last British dollar was minted in the year 1935. The coin which has the mark “B” was produced at Bombay and “C” was produced in Calcutta. Bombay was the main facility but most of these silver dollars were used by, and planned for, merchant trades to and with Hong Kong and surrounding ports in China. 1935 trade dollar story is still a mystery; many say that they ceased money as a result of the passage in this year of the Currency rule. 1935-B British Trade Dollar was the last of its kind and then the coin vanished into history.