Strong US Job Market Boosted The Dollar During The Week

Lebanese Forex Market:

Demand for the Dollar in the Lebanese Forex Market steadied over the past week as the value of the dollar stabilized at $/LP 1,513.75-1,514.25 with a mid-price of $/LP 1,514.

Foreign assets (excluding gold) of the Central Bank inched up by 0.42% by the end of February, to $37.17B. The dollarization ratio of private sector deposits fell from 65.71% in 2014 to 64.88% in 2015.

By Friday 4th of March, 2016, 12:30 am Beirut time, the euro depreciated against the dollar-pegged LP as the exchange rate dropped by 0.49%, over the last week, from €/LP 1,660.66 to €/LP 1,652.52. As for the Nominal effective Exchange Rate (NEER), it depreciated by a weekly 0.17% to 168.24 points, with a 0.09% year-to-date decrease.

International Forex Market:

The Euro dropped by a weekly 0.49% against the dollar after the release of a US report that showed a strong job market, boosting the probability that the US Federal Reserve will increase interest rates.

Commodities:

As expectations that the central banks might curb yields on other investments in an effort to spur economic growth, traders increased their demand for gold. This pushed the price of gold up from last week’s $1,229.51/ounce to $1,270.06/ounce this week.

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