Watch the interview of Ayaz Memon with Menaka Doshi and Anuj Singhal on CNBC-TV18, in which he shared his reading and outlook on Cricket World Cup 2015.
Watch the interview of Ayaz Memon with Menaka Doshi and Anuj Singhal on CNBC-TV18, in which he shared his reading and outlook on Cricket World Cup 2015.
Investing.com - Investing.com -- The euro slipped below 1.05 against the U.S. dollar on Friday, as concerns mounted for European importers that EUR/USD could reached parity sooner than expected.
In U.S. afternoon trading, the euro fell 1.32% or 0.014 to 1.0497 to reach a 12-year low. The euro dropped steadily from session-highs of 1.0636 in European trading to cap a volatile week for the currency.
The euro has depreciated more than 10% against its U.S. counterpart for the year and nearly 40% since August. More than a third of the yearly decline has occurred over the last week, as investors geared up for the start of the European Central Bank's €60 billion a month quantitative easing program, which began on Monday.
In quantitative easing, policy makers purchase securities with the newly printed currencies to raise the money supply in the wider system. Monetary easing programs, such as the ones previously undertaken by central banks in the U.S. and Japan following the 2008 Financial Crisis, are intended to drive up the market price of bonds. When bond prices increase, yields decrease lowering the rates for mortgages and other loans.
One week into the initiative, the bond buying program appears on its way of accomplishing its intended effect. Yields on 10-year government bonds are down across the board in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Belgium. On Friday, however, the German 10-Year bunds edged up 4.03% to 0.01, after reaching record-lows last week.
Questions, though, remain on whether the European Central Bank can attract enough buyers to snatch up the sovereign debt. Over the first three days of quantitative easing, the ECB made €10.3 billion in bond purchases, according to the Wall Street Journal. In addition, Norway's oil fund announced on Friday that it will sell $860 million in European bonds from its portfolio to invest in real estate.
The U.S. dollar continued its upward path against its major global competitors. The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of six major currencies, cracked the historic 100 barrier underscoring the strength of the dollar. By late-afternoon, the index peaked at 100.37 to reach a level not seen since 2003.
Currency traders now await next week's critical Federal Open Market Committee meetings when the U.S. Federal Reserve could provide indications on how shortly it might raise interest rates. If the Fed decides to remove a reference to "remaining patient," in its minutes, it typically indicates that interest rates could be raised at either of its next two meetings. After next week's meeting, the FOMC will meet in June and September.
Additional gains in the dollar were softened on Friday by weaker than expected U.S. economic data. The U.S. Labor Department said in a monthly report that producer prices in February declined by 0.5%, following a drop of nearly 1% a month earlier.
Elsewhere, the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index fell sharply to 91.2 in March from a 95.4 level last month. The index was expected to rise slightly to 95.5.
Investing.com offers an extensive set of professional tools for the financial markets.
Read more News on Investing.com and download the new Investing.com apps for Android and iOS!
Investing.com - Investing.com -- Domestic oil futures fell sharply on Thursday afternoon amid an unexpected decline in U.S. retail sales, reversing previous gains in morning trading.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, April deliveries for WTI Crude dropped 2.09% or 1.00 to $47.17 a barrel as prices for Texas light sweet continued on a downward path for the week. Prices hovered between $46.89 and $48.75 on a volatile day of trading.
On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), brent crude oil for April delivery fell 0.42% to $57.47 a barrel to offset Wednesday's gains. Trading for the international benchmark was as equally volatile, ranging from a low of $56.75 to $59.15 on Thursday.
In U.S. afternoon trading, the spread between brent and WTI edged up to $10.30 from Wednesday's close of $9.73. The spread peaked at approximately $13 early last week.
Crude prices peaked on Thursday morning ahead of the U.S. Commerce Department's report that retail sales dropped 0.6% in February. While the figure decreased for the third consecutive month, economists had only forecasted a decline of 0.3% for the month.
Shortly after, a separate report indicated that core retail sales excluding automobiles, gasoline and food remained virtually unchanged one month after experiencing a 0.1% decline in January.
Prices continued to move up slightly in morning trading, following the re-opening of the Houston Shipping Channel for oil imports. The channel closed after a vessel collision between a tanker and a Liberian bulk carrier earlier this week prompted a refinery rate cut. Elsewhere in Houston, progress in negotiations between a union representing refinery workers and the Shell Oil Company provided encouraging signs that the two sides could end a 40-day work stoppage.
WTI crude futures experienced their biggest fall around Noon, before closing down for the session. The unstable day of trading came one day after inventory supply growth slowed from all-time record highs.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude oil inventories increased by 4.5 million barrels last week, in comparison with expectations of a 4.4 million increase. A week earlier, however, crude oil inventories nationwide grew by 10.3 million barrels – its largest weekly increase since 2002. For the week of Feb. 19, the EIA found that WTI crude inventories rose by 8.4 million barrels.
The modest rise might ease concerns that the Cushing Oil Hub in Oklahoma could reach full capacity over the next two months. While crude oil inventories nationwide have peaked at 448.9 million barrels, the most in 80 years, capacity at Cushing is approximately at a level of 65%. If inventories grow at its current rate, Cushing could reach full capacity by June. Previous estimates forecasted that Cushing could reach a 100% level before the end of April. In the U.S. oil is being pumped at its fastest rate in more than three decades, even as the rig count declines exponentially.
Investing.com offers an extensive set of professional tools for the financial markets.
Read more News on Investing.com and download the new Investing.com apps for Android and iOS!
Within minutes of Parliament approving higher foreign investment in insurance sector, a number of insurers including from Bharti, Reliance, Max and SBI groups said their overseas partners will raise their stakes in respective JVs to 49 percent.
Within minutes of Parliament approving higher foreign investment in insurance sector, a number of insurers including from Bharti, Reliance, Max and SBI groups said their overseas partners will raise their stakes in respective JVs to 49 percent.
Welcoming the hike from 26 percent to 49 percent, the companies said their foreign partners were keen on a larger equity participation and the move would help attract USD 8-10 billion capital into the industry.
Bharti Group Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said "this is a positive development which will bring the much-needed investments for the growth of the insurance industry." Mittal said France's Axa will "step up their equity investment to 49 percent.
Bharti will soon move the application to FIPB as per the new FDI guideline". "This is a huge positive and is expected to bring in USD 8-10 billion capital in the industry which will in turn help the industry to significantly improve insurance penetration in the country.
"We will be initiating dialogue with our partners in life insurance for increasing their stake and also hope to close the partners for our General insurance and health insurance businesses soon," Reliance Capital CEO Sam Ghosh told PTI.
SBI Life MD and CEO Arijit Basu said "there is clarity and uncertainty is over... We are happy about it". SBI Life, which is a 74:26 joint venture of State Bank of India and BNP Paribas Cardiff, is in talks with the foreign partner for raising the stake.
"They are interested in hiking the stake.. How much and when it happens will depend on discussions," he said. Max India Chairman Analjit Singh and HDFC Life MD and CEO Amitabh Chaudhry also said the move will bring in more foreign capital in the near future.
Singh said its JV partner in health insurance venture UK- based Bupa is willing to hike stake in the company and a proposal in this regard is pending with the FIPB. As regards Max Life Insurance, Singh said, "Lots of conversation is going on with multiple partners. If Mitsui wants to raise stake, that Mitsui's call".
Parliament tonight approved the long-pending Insurance Bill that provides for raising foreign investment cap to 49 percent in the sector. The controversial Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015, which replaced an ordinance promulgated in December last, was passed by voice vote.
Financial Services Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said: "The insurance sector in India will get a big boost because of passing of the insurance legislation in the Parliament on Thursday".
SBI stock price
On March 12, 2015, State Bank of India closed at Rs 287.20, up Rs 2.05, or 0.72 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 335.90 and the 52-week low was Rs 163.01.
The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 16.61 per share as per the quarter ended December 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 17.29. The latest book value of the company is Rs 158.43 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.81.
Investing.com - Investing.com -- The euro neared a 12-year low against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, falling below 1.06 as foreign investors continued to shift funds from European to U.S. bonds days after the start of quantitative easing in the euro zone.
One day after Germany's largest bank forecasted parity between the euro and dollar at year's end, EUR/USD fell 1.37% or 0.0147 to 1.0549. For the year, the pair is down more than 20%.One-third of the drop has occurred since last Friday following stronger than expected U.S. employment data in the February jobs report. The creation of 295,000 new U.S. jobs, as well as a 5.5% unemployment rate has heightened concerns that the Fed could raise interest rates by June.
In turn, the U.S. dollar has soared as expectations of an increase of the Fed Funds Rate has coincided with the start of a €60 billion quantitative easing program by the European Central Bank. Next week, The Federal Open Market Committee could remove references of "remaining patient" from its minutes when it meets on Mar. 17-18. The removal typically indicates that an interest rate hike is imminent.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, continued its march toward 100, approaching a level it has not reached in more than a dozen years. In addition, the sharp rise of the dollar index in recent weeks has marked its second-highest appreciation in 40 years. On Wednesday, the index rose 1.23 or 1.25% to 99.84.
In bond markets, major central banks flocked to U.S. government bonds as indirect bids soared 59% at Wednesday's U.S. 10-Year Treasury auction in comparison with February purchases. The spread between U.S. 10-Year Treasuries (2.13%) and German 10-Year bunds (0.03) continued to hover at 25-year highs (2.1), as the bund fell 14.10% on Wednesday. The decline caused further drops in 10-year French and Italian bonds, which each fell by more than 7%.
After the close of U.S. markets on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve rejected the stress tests of the U.S. units of Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) and Spanish bank Santander (MADRID:SAN), citing widespread deficiencies with their capital plans.
Elsewhere, tensions remained high between Greece and its euro zone creditors. Ewald Nowotny, a member of the ECB's decision-making Governing Council, warned of the consequence that could result if Greece leaves the euro zone.
"If you think of Greece and a big devaluation of the currency, going out of the euro and having their own currency -- would that be helpful? I doubt it very much," Nowotny told a conference in Frankfurt. "There is just one industry that would be affected, tourism."
Investing.com offers an extensive set of professional tools for the financial markets.
Read more News on Investing.com and download the new Investing.com apps for Android and iOS!
Investing.com - Investing.com -- Gold future prices fell for the eighth consecutive day, as prices neared a one-year low amid continuing fears of an interest-rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Gold prices for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange plunged $10.20 or 0.90% to $1,149.90 a troy ounce. Gold futures dipped below a four-month low, approaching a yearly low of $1,142.47 from early-November.
Gold has been in freefall since last Friday when prices declined more than $30 an ounce, following stronger than expected U.S. employment data in the February jobs report. The creation of 295,000 new U.S. jobs, as well as a 5.5% unemployment rate has heightened concerns that the Fed could raise interest rates by June.
In turn, the U.S. dollar has soared as expectations of an increase of the Fed Funds Rate has coincided with the start of a EUR 60 billion quantitative easing program by the European Central Bank. The Federal Open Market Committee could remove references of "remaining patient" from its minutes when it meets next on Mar. 17-18. The removal typically indicates that an interest rate hike is imminent.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, continued its march toward 100, approaching a level it has not reached in more than a dozen years. In addition, the sharp rise of the dollar index in recent weeks has marked its second-highest appreciation in 40 years. On Wednesday, the index rose 1.23 or 1.25% to 99.84.
The dollar is up 20% on the euro on a year-over-year basis and is also up broadly against the Japanese Yen, the Chinese Yuan and Thai Baht. Since the start of February, USD/JPY is up from 118.98 to Wednesday's level of 121.42.
A strengthening dollar affects dollar-denominated commodities like gold by making it more expensive for holders of other currencies to purchase the metal.
Earlier on Wednesday, gold rose above $1,162 an ounce following the release of January-February industrial output, investment growth and retail sales in China. For February on a year-over-year basis, Chinese investment growth was up 15%, while industrial output rose by 7.8%. Retail sales, meanwhile, gained 11.7%.
China is the second-largest purchaser of the precious metal in the world.
Silver futures, meanwhile, for May delivery also fell 0.215 or 1.35% to trade at 15.418 a troy ounce.
Copper delivery for May dropped 0.017 or 0.64% to $2.607 a pound.
Elsewhere, Platinum and Palladium futures were both down by more than 12 points on the day. Platinum for April delivery fell 12.2 to 1,117.8, its lowest level since July, 2009. Palladium for June deliveries dropped 13 points to 791.10.
Investing.com offers an extensive set of professional tools for the financial markets.
Read more News on Investing.com and download the new Investing.com apps for Android and iOS!
Investing.com - Investing.com -- Stocks on the U.S. equities markets experienced one of their sharpest daily losses of the year, as a rapidly strengthening U.S. dollar triggered massive sell-offs across the markets.
Stocks on the Dow Jones Industrial Average have dropped more than 400 points over the last three trading days, erasing all of its previous gains for 2015. Stocks on the NASDAQ Composite index and S&P 500 Composite index also closed lower for the day, amid heightened expectations for tightening monetary policy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.85% or 332.78 on Tuesday to 17,662.94, as the U.S. Dollar Index reached its highest level in a dozen years.
The S&P 500 Composite index, meanwhile, lost 35.27 points to also erase all of its gains for the year. Of the 10 sectors on the S&P 500, only one, the services sector closed higher on Tuesday. Stocks in the consumer goods, conglomerates and industrial goods sector lagged, as the S&P 500 fell 1.70% on the day.
On the 15th year anniversary of its all-time record high, the NASDAQ continued to retreat from the 5,000 level. The NASDAQ fell 1.67% or 82.64 on Tuesday to close at 4,859.80.
EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) was the top gainer on the Dow on Tuesday, edging up 0.20 or 0.25% to 78.77. DuPont was also the only stock on the Dow to close higher. One day after closing as the biggest gainer on the Dow, United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), finished as Tuesday's worst performer after falling 3.55% or 4.32 to 117.43.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), meanwhile, dropped 2.07% or 2.63 to 124.51 one day after its highly-publicized launch of the iWatch,. The broad sell-off in Apple stock contributed to a nearly 10-point loss on the NASDAQ.
The top performer on the S&P 500 was retailer Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN), which gained 4.51 or 11.41% to 44.02 after recent sales exceeded forecasts by approximately 6%. The worst performer was Avon Products Inc (NYSE:AVP) which dropped 6.11% or 0.55 to 8.45.
The biggest performer on the NASDAQ was NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), which rose 0.4 or 1.77% to 23.01 after receiving an upgrade from Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC). The worst performer, meanwhile, was Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX), which dropped 4.48% or 2.55 to 54.4, one day after the Ireland-based provider of electronic data storage products announced a multi-year partnership with Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) to jointly develop flash-based storage.
Investing.com offers an extensive set of professional tools for the financial markets.
Read more News on Investing.com and download the new Investing.com apps for Android and iOS!
Investing.com - Investing.com -- The euro slipped below 1.07 against the U.S. Dollar on Tuesday reaching an 11-year low, as uncertainty of the euro zone's bond buying program combined with expectations of an imminent interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve pushed investments overseas.
EUR/USD lost 0.13% or 0.014 in late afternoon trading to 1.0682 on Tuesday. The pair continued to weaken, as the U.S. Dollar Index reached a 12-year high at 98.62. The index measures the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies.
For importers in the euro zone, there are mounting fears that the currency will drop even lower. On Tuesday, Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn), the largest bank in Germany revised its forecast for euro-dollar parity. Deutsche Bank forecast that EUR/USD will reach parity at the end of this year; previously the bank predicted it would occur at the end of 2016. On a long term basis, Deutsche Bank predicts that EUR/USD will reach 85 cents by 2017?down from previous forecasts of 95 cents at that point.
The developments on Tuesday came hours after Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas president Richard Fisher's comments in a speech before Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. In his remarks, Fisher warned of a recessionary risk that could ensue if plans to raise interest rates are delayed even further.
"Every time the Fed has tightened policy after achieving full employment it has driven the economy into recession," Fisher said. "It's because of this dynamic and my desire to prolong current expansion that I have argued that we should begin reducing policy accommodation earlier than many of my colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee appear to prefer."
Currency traders await further talks between Greece and its euro zone creditors, which are set to resume on Wednesday in Brussels. Negotiations hit a snag between the sides on Monday when the group of the euro zone finance ministers emphatically rejected Greece's proposed reform measures that are seen as a prerequisite to extend its bailout package.
Investing.com offers an extensive set of professional tools for the financial markets.
Read more News on Investing.com and download the new Investing.com apps for Android and iOS!
Investing.com - Investing.com -- U.S. stocks rebounded on Monday following one of its worst days of the year at last week's close as a strong jobs reported exacerbated worries that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as early as June.
Monday's gain coincided with the six-year anniversary of a bull market, following the Financial Crisis of 2008.
After dropping nearly 300 points on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.78 % or 138.94 points to 17,995.72. Led by gains in the healthcare and industrial sector, the S&P 500 rose 0.39% or 8.17 points to 2,078.43. The NASDAQ Composite index also rose slightly, increasing 0.31% or 15.07 to 4,942.44.
In a highly-anticipated event on Monday afternoon, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched its new iWatch at a glitzy media event in California. Calling the iWatch, the company's "most personal device ever," Apple CEO Tim Cook said the watch will be available on April 24 for a starting price of $349. Apple gained 2.85 or 2.25% to 129.45 shortly after Cook's announcement, before falling back to 127.14, up 0.54 or 0.43% at Monday's close.
In other technology news, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) dropped 7.59% or 0.81 to 9.86 after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) downgraded the stock to sell. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), meanwhile, gained 0.49 or 1.16% to 42.85 amid reports of a patent infringement lawsuit the company is filing against Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO).
Elsewhere, QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) gained 1.20 or 1.68% to 72.71 following the announcement of a $15 billion stock buyback program -- $10 billion of which it will purchase over the next 12 months. The company is considering issuing debt to finance the program, but announced it has $31.6 billion in cash on hand if needed.
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) also rose by more than 3% on Monday, after announcing a $5 billion stock buyback program of its own. The Detroit-based multinational automaker gained 1.12 points to close at 37.66.
The top performer on the Dow Jones Industrial Average was United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), after the Hartford-based high-tech manufacturer and defense contractor reported an 8.8% annualized rate of return. The worst performer on the Dow, meanwhile, was Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) (NYSE:BA) which dropped 0.48 or 1.45% to 32.71.
The biggest performer on the NASDAQ Composite index was RTI International Metals Inc (NYSE:RTI), which gained 39.30% or 10.72 to 38.00 after the titanium specialty metals manufacturer was acquired by Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA). The deal is based on RTI shareholders gaining 2.83 shares of Alcoa stock for each share of RTI. Alcoa fell 5.3% or 0.78 to 13.7 on Monday. The worst performer was AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ACRX), which dropped 37.03% or 3.24 to 5.51.
Investing.com offers an extensive set of professional tools for the financial markets.
Read more News on Investing.com and download the new Investing.com apps for Android and iOS!
Investing.com - Investing.com -- The Euro remained relatively stable against the U.S. Dollar on Monday, as the European Central Bank began its highly-anticipated €60 billion a month bond buying program and the euro zone struck down Greece's latest proposal of reform measures required as part of its bailout package from its European creditors.
EUR/USD inched 0.0001 forward to 1.0853 to halt a seven day streak of losses. The pair reached a daily-high of 1.0854 in U.S. morning trading before falling back to 1.0851 on a day of restrained trading.
There was little movement with the pair on Monday afternoon, following an announcement from the euro zone that Greece fell "far short," with the reform measures it presented to a group of Europe's finance ministers two weeks ago. On Feb. 20, Greece and the euro zone tentatively agreed to extend the €240 billion stimulus program, which is set to expire in June.
"We've talked about this long enough now," said Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, chairman of the euro zone. "We only have four months, let's get it done."
Technical discussions between Greece and its troika of creditors, the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, are now set for Wednesday in Brussels. Greece finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said his nation only has enough money to pay for salaries and pensions of public employees. At the end of this week, Greece owes roughly €2 billion in Treasury bill redemptions as well as obligations to the IMF.
Greece is seeking an additional 7 billion from its creditors to fulfill its short-term obligations. Varoufakis told an Italian newspaper on Sunday that Greece is considering holding a referendum to allow voters to decide whether the euro zone's measures are acceptable. Greece could default on its obligations if a deal is not reached and it decides to leave the euro zone.
In Germany, the yield on 10-year bunds plunged more than 20% in late afternoon trading to 0.31. On Friday, the spread between 10-year bunds and 10-year U.S. Treasuries reached a 25-year low. The European Central Bank opened its quantitative easing program on Monday by reportedly making bond purchases on the German, French, Italian and Belgian markets.
After reaching a record-high last week, the U.S. Dollar Index rose slightly to 97.64 – a gain of 0.01%. The index measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies.
Investing.com offers an extensive set of professional tools for the financial markets.
Read more News on Investing.com and download the new Investing.com apps for Android and iOS!
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Anwar El Ghazi scored a late goal to hand champions Ajax Amsterdam a 1-0 home win over Excelsior on Sunday and consolidate their bid for a Champions League place.
Ajax have given up hope of a record-breaking fifth successive league title and are chasing the second spot that will guarantee a position among Europe's elite next season.
They are 11 points behind runaway leaders PSV Eindhoven, who won 3-0 at Go Ahead Eagles Deventer on Saturday, and eight ahead of Feyenoord in third.
El Ghazi's ninth league goal of the season came seven minutes from time. Feyenoord moved up one place after a comfortable 3-0 home victory over second from bottom NAC Breda. Goalline technology confirmed Lex Immers' effort after 10 minutes had crossed the line, the first decision of its kind in the Dutch league. It was followed by two more goals from Mitchell te Vrede in the second half. Feyenoord have 48 points, one more than AZ Alkmaar who were thrashed 6-2 at Utrecht. Willem Janssen's second-minute goal was followed by a brilliant effort from Mark Diemers and then a third in the 17th minute from the penalty spot by Sebastien Haller. Haller netted another penalty in the 69th minute before Kristoffer Peterson and Edouard Duplan also struck. Groningen defeated bottom club Dordrecht 2-0 with goals from Albert Rusnak and Tjaronn Chery.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson, editing by Tony Jimenez; mark.gleeson@thomsonreuters.com +27828257807 Messaging mark.gleeson.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
Investing.com - Investing.com - The Japanese yen was nearly flat in early Asia on Monday ahead of current account and GDP data sets while the Aussie and the euro held weaker ahead of the latest meeting on Greece.
USD/JPY traded at 120.80, down 0.02%, while AUD/USD changed hands at 0.7709, down 0.17% and EUR/USD was quoted at 1.0829, down 0.11%.
The adjusted current account is seen at a surplus of ¥1.6 trillion while GDP is expected at a gain of 0.6% quarter on quarter for an annual pace of 2.2%.
Last week, the U.S. dollar rallied to fresh eleven-and-a-half year highs against a basket of major currencies on Friday as a strong U.S. jobs report solidified expectations for higher interest rates.
The Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 295,000 jobs in February, far more than the 240,000 forecast by economists. The unemployment rate ticked down to 5.5% from 5.7% in January, the lowest since May 2008. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate would fall to 5.6%.
The robust jobs report fuelled expectations that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates around the middle of this year.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was quoted at 97.84, up 0.09%.
EUR/USD dropped 1.69% to 1.0841 on Friday, a day after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi confirmed that it will begin purchasing euro zone government bonds on Monday under its new quantitative easing program.
The combined monthly asset purchases will amount to €60 billion per month and are expected to run until September 2016, or until the ECB sees that inflation is on a 'sustained path' to its target of close to, but below, 2%.
Draghi also said that the ECB expects to see higher growth and inflation over the coming years.
In the week ahead, markets will be watching talks on Greece by euro zone finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, while Thursday's U.S. retail sales report will also be closely watched for further indications on the strength of the recovery. On Monday, Eurogroup finance ministers are to hold a meeting in Brussels to discuss funding options for Greece.
Elsewhere in Europe, Switzerland is to release data on retail sales.
Investing.com offers an extensive set of professional tools for the financial markets.
Read more News on Investing.com and download the new Investing.com apps for Android and iOS!
On Young Turks Women's Day special meet Vani Kola of Kalaari Capital and Bharati Jacob of Seedfund Advisors who are two of the very few women VCs in India. Bharati and Vani reveal that most often what holds women back are their own demons.
On Young Turks Women's Day special meet Vani Kola of Kalaari Capital and Bharati Jacob of Seedfund Advisors who are two of the very few women VCs in India. Bharati and Vani reveal that most often what holds women back are their own demons. They strongly believe that women make great entrepreneurs and leaders and it is only a matter a time before women are better represented in the startup community in India.
Watch video for more.
On Young Turks Women's Day special meet Nidhi Agarwal and her fashion portal Kaaryah.com. Kaaryah.com claims to help women discover the perfect fit and variety of western wear for their wardrobes. Believing that one size cannot fit all, Kaaryah's entire range of clothing comes in 18 sizes especially designed for the Indian silhouette.
On Young Turks Women's Day special meet Nidhi Agarwal and her fashion portal Kaaryah.com. Kaaryah.com claims to help women discover the perfect fit and variety of western wear for their wardrobes. Believing that one size cannot fit all, Kaaryah's entire range of clothing comes in 18 sizes especially designed for the Indian silhouette.
Watch video for more.
