Daily outlook – 18th July 2012 (00:30GMT)

The US dollar (USD) produced losses versus a basket of currencies as Fed Chairman Bernanke did not provide clear quantitative easing (QE) hints during his first day of testifying before the Senate. QE may occasionally be used to enhance the money supply by purchasing government securities or other securities from the market. The second testimony by the Fed Chairman due today at 14:00 GMT is expected to capture investors’ attention worldwide. Versus the Canadian dollar (CAD), the greenback dropped to 1.0120 from 1.0151 as Bank of Canada decided to leave its lending rate unchanged at 1.00%

The euro (EUR) recorded gains against most of its major counterparts even as the German ZEW economic sentiment and current situation indices came out lower than expected. On other news, Greece remains under pressure to deliver additional spending cuts, while Finland achieved a collateral deal as part of the Spanish bank bailout. Versus the US dollar (USD), the single currency rose to 1.2295 from 1.2264.

The British pound (GBP) rose to 1.5663 from 1.5625 US dollars, ahead of the Bank of England (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting minutes release today at 08:30 GMT.

Oil prices rose to 87.79 from 86.75 dollars a barrel. Gold (XAU) remained flat around 1590 US dollars an ounce. Against the euro, gold dropped to 1295.05 from 1297.51 euro an ounce. Silver (XAG) moved up to 27.3655 from 26.9700 dollars an ounce. Stay in tune throughout the day with foreign exchange bullets!