At the beginning of the new trading week, a slight optimism arrived in the markets. On Monday, currencies that tend to be an alternative to safe currency ports strengthened. The euro and pound firmed against both the dollar and the yen.
Euro firms against dollar
The pound and the euro were also affected by Monday’s closure of US financial markets for Independence Day celebrations. The common European currency firmed two-tenths of a percent against the dollar on Monday. The euro thus remained slightly above its weakest level against the US currency in five years.
The pound gained as much as 0.4 percent against the dollar, shortly after touching its lowest level since 1976. Investors were pleased with information that the White House is preparing to announce a reduction in tariffs on imports of some goods from China in the coming days.
European stock exchanges also rose
Both the euro and the pound also strengthened against the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc. As a result, some European stock exchanges also rose. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index gained 0.54 percent on Monday, while the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100 index also rose by almost nine-tenths. By contrast, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s DAX index lost more than three-tenths of a percent.
