The Euro edged higher and struck a 2-week peak versus the US Dollar; the rise is generally attributed to a surge of relief felt now that there appears to be a halt to Catalonia’s quest for independence from Spain. In the end, it was only a symbolic independence declaration made by the regional leader who called for negotiations to begin with Madrid. Alfonso Dastis, Spain’s Foreign Minister, responded with comments that there appears to be some room within Spain’s constitution for manipulating the framework. He viewed Carles Puigdemont’s speech as a “trick;” nonetheless, it did sufficiently calm tensions, though some currency analysts remain wary.
As reported at 11:25 am (BST) in London, the EUR/USD was trading at $1.18, a gain of 0.04%; the pair has ranged from a session trough of $1.1849 to a low of $1.1795. The EUR/GBP is up 0.14% and trading at 0.8957 Pence, off the session peak of 0.8930 Pence while the high is set at 0.89700 Pence.
Dollar Weakened by Trump Talk
The US Dollar is seen as broadly weaker, this time due to President Trump’s latest feud with a representative of his own Republic party, Senator Bob Corker. That feud has raised some concerns that the much anticipated overhaul of the US tax code could be in danger, as now that Senator Corker has responded to Trump’s vitriol it could open the floodgates for more Republicans who, though in disagreement with the President’s words and some policies, have remained quietly on the sidelines.
