Forex: Thursday’s review

Yesterday the euro rose after German newspaper Die Welt reported that the European Central Bank is exchanging Greek bonds for new securities, bolstering speculation Greece will get its second bailout. The ECB is swapping its 50 billion-euro ($66 billion) Greek government bond holdings for new Greek bonds, Die Welt reported, citing unidentified central bank officials. The swap will be completed by Feb. 20, it said. An ECB spokesman declined to comment on the report.

The dollar erased gains against a majority of its most- traded counterparts after a report showed manufacturing in the Philadelphia area expanded by the fastest in four months and initial jobless claims fell to the lowest in four years.

The pound was the best performer against the dollar as consumer confidence improved in January. Nationwide Building Society said its U.K. sentiment index climbed to 47 in January from 38 the previous month. A gauge of consumers’ outlook for the economy jumped by 14 points, the Swindon, England-based customer-owned lender said.

EUR/USD: yesterday the pair fell, but second half of day was restored and closed day above $1.3100.

GBP/USD: yesterday the pair has grown on a figure.

USD/JPY: yesterday the pair rose, updated new week’s high.

On Friday data starts at 0700GMT, with the release of German January PPI data. At 0900GMT, ECB December current account data was released. At 1000GMT, EMU Dec construction output data hits the screens. UK data is due at 0930GMT, with the release of the January Retail Sales data. The US calendar gets under way at 1330GMT, with the release of the latest consumer price data. The core CPI is expected to rise 0.2% after the 0.1% rise in December. Also at 1330GMT, Canadian Leading Indicators are released. U.S. January Leading Indicators are released at 1500GMT. Lastly, at 2115GMT, U.S. C&I loans data is released.