currency exchange news stories on Newser

Japan, China Cut Currency Deal, Shun Dollar

Kevin Spak — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 09:53:05 CST

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda met with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing today, and emerged with a number of deals—including one that will marginalize the US dollar in Asia. The countries agreed to promote direct yuan-yen trades, the Wall Street Journal reports; until now, the money has usually...

Euro Dives Below $1.30

Kevin Spak — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:52:09 CST

The euro has dropped below the $1.30 mark for the first time since January, after a less-than-ideal Italian bond offering stoked fears over the Europe's ongoing debt woes. The currency at times sagged as low as $1.2994 in European trading, after swinging between $1.2989 and $1.3038...

Dollar Nears 3-Year Low

Matt Cantor — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 04:45:00 CDT

The dollar’s value today remained near its lowest in three years against multiple currencies, and it’s set for its largest weekly drop since January, Reuters reports. The figures follow the Federal Reserve’s suggestion that it had no immediate plans to tighten its monetary policy, prompting a big sell-off of the...

Hu Faces a Chill on Capitol Hill

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 11:53:10 CST

Last night’s state dinner was fun and all, but now Chinese President Hu Jintao will have to face the music. He hits Capitol Hill today, where lawmakers have been griping about him—specifically, about his country’s economic policies and human rights violations. Sen. Harry Reid called Hu a “dictator” during...

Traders Go Nuts for Newly Available Yuan

Kevin Spak — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:29:05 CST

Currency traders are going wild over their latest toy: China’s yuan. In the few months since Beijing allowed its currency to be bought and sold outside the mainland, daily trading has shot from zero to $400 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. Though China still maintains strict control over the...

Let's Can the G20 Summit and Just Email Each Other

Kevin Spak — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 13:46:19 CST

Here’s the electrifying agreement the G20 reached in Seoul: They vowed to create guidelines for rectifying trade imbalances—by the next G20 meeting. “Thank you, Baby Jesus, for this smoking hot procrastination,” writes Tunku Varadarajan in the Daily Beast . Basically, it was the same old story: China and Germany want...

China Drops US Credit Rating Ahead of G20

Kevin Spak — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:39:45 CST

China’s top state-endorsed rating agency dropped the United States’ credit rating yesterday, warning that recent Fed moves, along with “serious defects in the United States' economic development and management model” were “fundamentally lowering the national solvency.” The report probably won’t have much impact on our lending capabilities, but it’s a...

G20 Nations Brush Off Goals by Geithner

Matt Cantor — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:19:51 CDT

G20 officials aren’t likely to accept US proposals to better monitor exchange rates along with trade deficits and surpluses, an insider tells Reuters . Timothy Geithner had hoped to set numerical targets for surpluses and deficits as well as "norms" on currency rate policy. "Right now, there is no established sense...

Japan Jumps Into Currency Market to Weaken Yen

Kevin Spak — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:18:00 CDT

Japan has taken the extraordinary step of intervening in the currency market in an effort to drag down the soaring yen. Japanese monetary authorities bought dollars and sold trillions of yen, driving the yen down from 84.5 yen to the dollar to 82, the New York Times reports. Their...