- Sterling gains as UK's May seeks Brexit delay
- U.S. durable goods orders fell in February
- Fed on hold may encourage investment in emerging markets
(Adds May comments, updates prices)
Sterling gained and the euro pared losses, but remained lower on the day, after British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday that she would ask the European Union for a further delay to Brexit.
May is seeking a delay beyond April 12 to give her time to sit down with the opposition Labour Party in a bid to break the impasse over Britain's departure.
The pound GBP=D3 rallied as much as 0.4% after May's statement, to trade above the $1.31 line. Previously, it was heading towards the $1.30 levels.
The euro EUR= jumped to a U.S. session high of $1.1215 before giving up much of the gains and remaining lower on the day.
The euro has dropped to more than three week lows against the U.S. dollar as investors evaluate international growth prospects with the U.S. and European central banks unlikely to raise interest rates soon.
Survey data on Monday showed factories in the euro zone had their worst month in almost six years in March, while economic data in the United States offered more hope.
Data on Tuesday, however, showed that new orders for key U.S.-made capital goods unexpectedly fell in February and shipments were unchanged, while data for January was revised slightly higher.
"The theme is really is good U.S. data good or bad for the dollar?” said Mark McCormick, North American head of FX strategy at TD Securities in Toronto, adding that it may in fact be negative with the Federal Reserve on hold regarding rates.
That is because a solid U.S. economy should help the view that the global economy will stabilize, and encourage investors searching out yield to move into emerging markets for higher returns, he said.
Outflows from European equity exchange-traded funds have also diminished, which suggests an improving outlook for the region, McCormick said. Like the Fed, the ECB is not expected to raise rates in the near term.
The single currency was last $1.1194 against the dollar EUR= , after earlier dipping to $1.1181, the lowest since March 7. The euro is nearing the $1.1174 level, which if broken would send the currency to its weakest levels since June 2017.
Some technical indicators suggest the euro may be nearing the end of its downturn, and that it should find support soon if it does not drop below the $1.1185-$1.1175 region.
The euro is trying to find a bottom, "but (it) needs to do more work," Karen Jones, a technical analyst at Commerzbank wrote on Tuesday in a report.
Australia's dollar shed 0.69% AUD= after the Australian government downgraded its growth forecasts but said it expected the economy to extend its enviable recession-free run of growth into a third decade.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 2:06PM (1806 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1194 $1.1212 -0.16% -2.40% +1.1218 +1.1184 Dollar/Yen JPY= 111.3400 111.3400 +0.00% +0.98% +111.4500 +111.2600 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 124.68 124.84 -0.13% -1.22% +124.9000 +124.4800 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9984 0.9987 -0.03% +1.73% +1.0000 +0.9974 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3114 1.3099 +0.11% +2.80% +1.3131 +1.3015 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3351 1.3306 +0.34% -2.10% +1.3374 +1.3305 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7062 0.7111 -0.69% +0.20% +0.7129 +0.7053 arEuro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.1180 1.1197 -0.15% -0.66% +1.1203 +1.1169 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8534 0.8558 -0.28% -5.01% +0.8607 +0.8531 NZ NZD= 0.6744 0.6804 -0.88% +0.40% +0.6804 +0.6740 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK= 8.6107 8.5810 +0.35% -0.32% +8.6301 +8.5872 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.6410 9.6253 +0.16% -2.68% +9.6581 +9.6212 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.3310 9.2810 +0.39% +4.10% +9.3427 +9.2840 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.4479 10.4068 +0.39% +1.79% +10.4535 +10.4039 All spots FX=Tokyo spots AFX= Europe spots EFX= Volatilities FXVOL= Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ TKYFX World central bank news CEN Economic Forecasts... ECON Official rates...INT/RATE Forex Diary.......MI/DIARY Top events........M/DIARY Diaries...........DIARY Diaries Index........IND/DIARY Press Digests.....PRESS Polls on G7 economies..SURVEY/ European markets......MARKETS/))
