Forex / Eurozone & UK news

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Gold exceeded yesterday's one-month high amid record dollar weakness and as a rally in oil to fresh 11-month peaks increased the metal's appeal as a hedge against inflation.At 3.10 pm, spot gold was quoted at 666.80 usd per ounce, up from 660...

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - Euro zone GDP growth is expected to reach 0.7 pct in the second, third and fourth quarters, according to the main economic institutes from Germany, France and Italy.Euro zone GDP also grew 0.7 pct in the first quarter.The forecasts by Germany's Ifo institute, France's Insee and Italy's Isae institute show an upward revision from their previous projections for the second and third quarters...

RIGA (Thomson Financial) - The council of the Bank of Latvia decided on Thursday to leave refinancing rates unchanged at the 6 pct level, the president of the bank said. Other interest rates have remained unchanged as well. As a result, the rate on overnight loans is to stay at 7...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Nationwide Building Association said it will reintroduce a 25-year fixed rate mortgage only a day after UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed the need for such products to encourage home ownership.Nationwide said the product would have a rate of 6...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Oil continued higher into the afternoon as concerns over tight crude and product supply in the face of burgeoning demand fuelled speculative buying as prices approached record highs."With Brent challenging the prior all-time highs, speculators are now piling up futures contracts in anticipation of a new record high price," said Louis-Vincent Gave, head of GaveKal Research...

PARIS (Thomson Financial) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are likely to focus more on the problem of EADS' ownership and management structure than on its rapidly growing woes from a strong euro when they meet in Toulouse on Monday to discuss the company's future...

STRASBOURG, France (Thomson Financial) - Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, whose country holds the EU presidency, said the current level of the euro is not a problem for the euro zone economy."I don't think and don't believe that we have a problem in exchange rates at the moment," Teixeira dos Santos told the European Parliament economic and monetary affairs committee...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The euro continued to post fresh all-time highs against the dollar, supported by an unexpected upward revision to first quarter GDP growth and robust industrial production figures.First quarter euro zone GDP was revised up to show a 0...

STRASBOURG, France (Thomson Financial) - The European Parliament expressed concern over the appreciation of the euro but rejected calls for closer coordination of exchange rate policy by the European Central Bank and finance ministers.The plenary session of the parliament voted in favour of a report from its economic and monetary affairs committee on the ECB with few amendments...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - The European Commission said it has received support for further regulation of non-EU audit firms following a public consultation launched in January.Measures would regulate and supervise non-EU audit firms, as well as increase cooperation with competent authorities from non-EU countries...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The robustness of UK business in the face of higher interest rates and a stronger pound will give the Bank of England room to raise borrowing costs still further, a leading business lobby said, but it warned that rate-setters could go too far...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - European government bonds were off lows after the European Central Bank failed to reveal anything new in its still hawkish stance on interest rates.The ECB said in its monthly bulletin for July that it is monitoring inflation risks closely and remains ready to raise interest rates further if necessary...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The European Central Bank today said that M3 money supply in the euro zone remains strong but warned that the elevated annual rate could be misleading."Over the course of 2006 and in early 2007 developments in the annual growth rate of the broad aggregate M3 may overstate the dynamism of the underlying rate of monetary expansion," the ECB said in an article published in its monthly bulletin today...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Oil rose in light early trade after yesterday's report on US fuel stockpiles failed to alleviate concerns over the supply of both crude and refined products in the US.Oil dipped slightly last night after inventory data from the Energy Information Administration showed a larger than expected rise in gasoline stocks and a bigger draw on crude, but retraced its losses this morning as supply concerns resurfaced...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Copper rose after a report showing stocks fell to their lowest level since July last year stoked supply jitters.Stocks stored in LME certifies warehouses across the globe fell 725 tonnes to 98,625 tonnes, said the exchange in a daily report...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - Euro zone GDP growth grew 0.7 pct in the first quarter from the fourth quarter, and was up 3.1 pct year-on-year, EU statistics office Eurostat said.The figures show an upward revision of provisional figures reported on June 1...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Gold crept up near yesterday's one-month highs as the dollar plunged to a new all time low against the euro, and as gains in oil and other commodities leant support.At 10.05 am, spot gold was quoted at 663.40 usd per ounce, up from 660...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - Euro zone May industrial output rose 0.9 pct from April, and was up 2.5 pct year-on-year, EU statistics agency Eurostat reported.Economists polled by Thomson Financial News had forecast a month-on-month rise of 1.0 pct and an increase of 2...

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - The European Central Bank said it is monitoring inflation risks closely and remains ready to raise interest rates further if necessary."The governing council will continue to monitor closely all developments to ensure that risks to price stability over the medium term do not materialise," the ECB said in its July monthly bulletin...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The euro climbed to a fresh all-time high against the dollar after a hawkish European Central Bank monthly bulletin, amid ongoing concern about the US sub-prime mortgage market.The ECB said it is monitoring inflation risks closely and remains ready to raise interest rates further if necessary...