| Euro hits 2-year high versus $
NEW YORK: The euro reached a two-year high against the dollar and approached a record versus the yen as signs of faster growth in Europe raised speculation the European Central Bank will increase interest rates. Gains in the euro accelerated after it rose above $1.34, triggering orders to buy back the currency, traders said. ECB officials said this week that higher borrowing costs are needed to contain inflation as reports showed strength in manufacturing. The Bank of England kept rates unchanged on Thursday. "The euro is aggressively bought," said Tim O'Sullivan, chief foreign exchange trader at Forex.com, a unit of online currency trading company Gain Capital in Bedminster, New Jersey, which has about $250 million funds under management. "The ECB has more room to go to hike rates." The euro advanced 0.47% to $1.3431 in morning trade in New York, the highest since March 2005.
Forex trading ‘guru’ indicted
Joel Nathan Ward, 48, of Turlock has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Sacramento on five counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, and two counts of engaging in a monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, a form of money laundering. Mr. Ward, a frequent commentator and seminar speaker on foreign currency exchange (forex) trading, is alleged to have been running an elaborate scam through two of his companies, the Joel Nathan Forex Investment Group of Turlock and Learn: Forex, Inc., a forex trading educational center based in Sacramento. The indictment alleges that Mr. Ward provided investors with monthly statements that purported to reflect their true profits and account balances. In reality, however, he stole the investors funds and, in order to conceal the theft, made Ponzi payments using other investors funds and provided his investors with altered account statements, according to Assistant U.S.
Flexibility for private sector in forex dealings
KUALA LUMPUR: The further liberalisation of Malaysias foreign exchange administration policies will give the private sector more flexibility in managing foreign exchange transactions, Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said. She said although the trading market would be affected by the inflow and outflow of funds, Malaysia would be able to absorb any outflow, given the countrys high reserves. Given a very high level of reserves, we can certainly absorb the outflow and over time, we project significant inflows continuing with export growth estimated at 8% to 9%, she told reporters after the launch of Bank Negaras Annual Report 2006 and the inaugural issue of its Financial Stability and Payment Systems Report 2006 yesterday. Zeti said the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) remained significant to date, with the central bank expecting inflows of portfolio funds amidst a positive outlook for the economy. On the relaxation on forex rules, she said the financial sector had always been seen as an enabler of growth in facilitating financing for the private sector. Zeti said liberalisation had, in fact, generated new business opportunities for domestic players, adding that players could issue foreign currency bonds and take part in the property sector more sensibly. On whether the liberalisation was a process towards allowing the ringgit to be traded offshore, she said the central bank would assess the risks and benefits of such a move. These latest changes are quite significant and we will consider other liberalisation (moves) going forward.
Transactions on forex market hit record high in February
The interbank forex market set a new record in the volume of transactions for February with 22.5 billion euros, four times higher than the monthly average of 2004 and 62% higher than the monthly average of 2006, according to the NBR data. "A significant share" of the volume traded on the forex market is due to speculative capitals the central bank believes.
The volume of foreign currency transactions exceeded NBR's foreign currency reserve (21.6 billion euros) for the first time in February.
After a sudden adjustment in September and October 2006, right after the full convertibility of the RON was announced, the inflows of foreign capital have supported a constantly upward trend of trading volumes. .
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