The euro exchange rate rose slightly against the dollar, recovering from the lows, but in spite of this, is still trading lower.

Note that the earlier appreciation of the dollar was linked to yesterday's statement from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said that the central bank is prepared to reduce the volume of purchases of bonds this year and even suspend them in 2014, when the economy will show steady growth.

The current rise of the dollar also helped the U.S. data. First of all, it is worth noting the report from the National Association of Realtors, which showed that sales of existing homes in the U.S. in May to a seasonally adjusted rose 4.2% to 5.18 million homes per year compared with 4.97 million in April, reaching its highest level in more than three years. Economists predicted that sales of existing homes will rise to an annual rate of 5.01 million

Also helped to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, which showed that in June, the business activity index rose to 12.5 vs. -5.2 in May. Economists had expected the index to rise to -0.4. Increase in the index was caused by a significant increase in selling and purchase prices, as well as new orders. At the same time, reducing component showed delivery times and inventories.

However, the dollar failed to hold its position after the data from the European Commission showed that consumer confidence in the euro area has grown significantly in the month of June, which further points to signs of recovery in the region.

According to the report, a preliminary index of consumer confidence in the euro zone rose this month to the level of -18.8, compared with -21.9 in the previous month. It is worth noting that many economists had expected a more modest increase of the index - to the level of -21.5. We also add that this figure shows growth for the seventh consecutive month. In addition, it is worth noting that the last value of the index was the strongest in more than a year.

The pound has recovered after falling against the U.S. dollar after data on retail sales in Britain. Retail sales in the UK in May strongly revived after the failure of April, as consumers are willing to use advertising campaigns supermarkets. The data shows that consumers are still willing to spend money, despite the pressure exerted on their budget weak wage growth and inflation. Recent figures may strengthen expectations that the economy continued to grow in the 2nd quarter. National Bureau of Statistics reported that in May retail sales rose by 2.1% compared with April and by 1.9% compared with the same period last year.

Add that support the currency has had a report from the Confederation of British Industry, which showed that activity in the month of June in the UK manufacturing sector remained subdued, as the total number of orders, including export, remained roughly close to their long-term averages. In addition, it was reported that the price expectations also little changed from eight-month low, which was recorded in May. The volume of output also remained largely unchanged from three months earlier, which again disappointed hopes for a strong acceleration in production.

Studies have also shown that some companies have lowered their expectations, though they still expect a modest increase in production over the next three months.

The report showed that 14% of firms reported that the total number of orders was much higher, while 32% of the decline, which made the balance of -18%, in line with the long-term average at 17%. In addition, it was reported that the balance for export orders amounted to 22%, which was the lowest level since January 2013.

The yen fell sharply against the U.S. dollar, which was related to yesterday's statement FOMC. The volume of the QE program is the same, but the statement looked like this: "Downside risks to the economic outlook and the labor market declined in the autumn." The market reacted to the fall in risk appetite, which led to the dollar's rally. In general, the statement sounded more optimistic about the economy, inflation is now less concerned about power, and the labor market is encouraging, that can bring the rate increase.

In addition, the decline contributed to a number of reports on the United States. The index of leading indicators rose 0.1% against the expected 0.2%, while sales of existing homes - by 4.2% against the forecast of +0.6%. We also add that the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing activity improved to 12.5 vs. expected -0.4.

Existing home sales in the U.S. rose by much more than anticipated in the month of May, the National Association of Realtors revealed in a report on Thursday, with sales rising to their highest level in well over three years.

NAR said existing home sales rose 4.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million in May from 4.97 million in April. Economists had been expecting existing home sales to edge up to an annual rate of 5.0 million.

The bigger than expected increase lifted existing home sales to their highest annual rate since November of 2009, when sales spiked to 5.44 million in response to the home buyer tax credit.

EUR/USD $1.3175, $1.3200, $1.3250, $1.3275, $1.3300, $1.3400

USD/JPY Y95.00, Y95.05, Y95.15, Y95.25, Y95.50, Y96.00, Y96.50, Y97.00, Y98.00

AUD/USD $0.9300, $0.9350, $0.9500

CBP/USD $1.5335, $1.5530, $1.5550, $1.5600

AUD/JPY Y90.50

EUR/CHF Chf1.2300

EUR/JPY Y128.75, Y130.70

USD/CHF Chf0.9325

USD/CAD C$1.0260, C$1.0305

After reporting an unexpected drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that initial jobless claims rebounded by more than anticipated in the week ended June 15th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 354,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 336,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 340,000 from the 334,000 originally reported for the previous week.

04:30 Switzerland SNB Financial Stability Report 2013

06:00 Germany Producer Price Index (MoM) May -0.2% 0.0% -0.3%

06:00 Germany Producer Price Index (YoY) May +0.1% +0.3% +0.2%

06:00 Switzerland Trade Balance May 1.70 2.45 2.2

07:00 France Manufacturing PMI (Preliminary) June 46.4 47.1 48.3

07:00 France Services PMI June 44.3 45.0 46.5

07:30 Germany Manufacturing PMI (Preliminary) June 49.4 49.9 48.7

07:30 Germany Services PMI (Preliminary) June 49.7 50.1 51.3

07:30 Switzerland SNB Interest Rate Decision 0.25% 0.25% 0.25%

07:30 Switzerland SNB Monetary Policy Assessment

07:30 Switzerland SNB Press Conference

08:00 Eurozone Manufacturing PMI (Preliminary) June 48.3 48.6 48.7

08:00 Eurozone Services PMI (Preliminary) June 47.2 47.7 48.6

08:30 United Kingdom Retail Sales (MoM) May -1.1% +0.8% +2.1%

08:30 United Kingdom Retail Sales (YoY) May +0.5% +0.2% +1.9%

09:00 Eurozone Eurogroup Meetings June

10:00 United Kingdom CBI industrial order books balance June -20 -15 -18

The dollar rising against the euro the second day in a row after Bernanke's comments on the possibility of folding program of bond purchases in anticipation of today's release of data on the housing market and the manufacturing sector in the U.S.. According to the median forecast of experts, the number of purchased property in the states is likely to grow by 0.6% compared to the previous month. The value may be the highest since November 2009.

The dollar index is trading near one-week high after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank is prepared to reduce the volume of purchases of bonds this year and even suspend them in 2014, when the economy will show steady growth. Also, the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to keep the key interest rate in the range of 0-0.25% per annum. This decision was predicted by most analysts. Also, officials have decided to keep the asset purchase program in the amount of 85 billion dollars for the preservation of super soft monetary policy voted in eight of the ten members of the Open Market. Opposed by the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of g.Sent Louis James Bullard, who believes the Fed's actions insufficient to control inflation, as well as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Esther George, who feared that the holding of such a policy threatens to unbalance the economy in the future. Federal Reserve policies also updated economic outlook for 2013 and expect GDP growth of 2.3-2.6% vs 2.3-2.8% projected in March.

Released in the region, statistics on business activity in the manufacturing sector and the service sector has had little impact on the single currency.

The yen strengthened against most major currencies, against the background of falling Asian stock market, which increases the demand for safe haven.

The Australian dollar fell after the preliminary data published by PMI manufacturing index from HSBC in China have disappointed investors. In June, the figure was 48.3, while economists had expected to see 49.1. AUD / USD rate reached a low for almost 3 years at $ 0.9200.

The pound has recovered after falling against the U.S. dollar after data on retail sales in Britain. Retail sales in the UK in May strongly revived after the failure of April, as consumers are willing to use advertising campaigns supermarkets. The data shows that consumers are still willing to spend money, despite the pressure exerted on their budget weak wage growth and inflation. Recent figures may strengthen expectations that the economy continued to grow in the 2nd quarter. National Bureau of Statistics reported that in May retail sales rose by 2.1% compared with April and by 1.9% compared with the same period last year.

EUR / USD: during the European session, the pair fell to $ 1.3180

GBP / USD: during the European session, the pair dropped to $ 1.5413 and then rose to $ 1.5483

USD / JPY: during the European session, the pair rose to Y98.32

At 13:00 GMT the United States will leave the index of business activity in the manufacturing sector in June. At 14:00 GMT Eurozone will release an indicator of consumer confidence for June. At 14:00 GMT the United States will publish a volume of sales in the secondary market for May and the manufacturing index, the Philadelphia Fed in June.

EUR/USD

Offers $1.3350, $1.3300, $1.3280, $1.3245/50

Bids $1.3150, $1.3135/30, $1.3100

GBP/USD

Offers $1.5590/00, $1.5550, $1.5520, $1.5490/00

Bids $1.5405/00, $1.5350, $1.5305/00

AUD/USD

Offers $0.9450, $0.9400, $0.9350, $0.9270/80, $0.9235/40

Bids $0.9150, $0.9100

EUR/JPY

Offers Y131.00, Y130.50, Y130.20, Y130.00, Y129.75/80

Bids Y128.80/60, Y128.35/30, Y128.00, Y127.55/50, Y127.20, Y127.05/00

EUR/GBP

Offers stg0.8700, stg0.8650, stg0.8620, stg0.8595/600

Bids stg0.8520, stg0.8475/70, stg0.8465/60, stg0.8450

USD/JPY

Offers Y99.25/30, Y99.00, Y98.50

Bids Y97.40/20, Y97.00, Y96.50/40, Y96.25/20, Y96.00

Eurozone business activity logged the smallest downturn since March last year, flash survey data from Markit Economics showed Thursday.

The composite output index improved to 48.9 in June from 47.7 in May. The reading also exceeded consensus forecast of 48.1. Nonetheless, the sub-50 reading nevertheless rounded off another weak quarter.

The manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 48.7, a 16-month high, from 48.3 a month ago. It was also higher than the expected 48.6.

Similarly, the services PMI came in at 48.6 compared to 47.2 in May. The reading reached a 15-month high and exceeded the expected reading of 47.5.

Data showed that manufacturing output fell in June at the slowest rate in the current 16-month sequence, registering only a very modest decline, and services business activity showed the joint-weakest fall since March 2012.

"The survey data suggest that GDP is likely to have shrunk by 0.2 percent in the second quarter, similar to the fall seen in the first three months of the year and extending the region's recession into a record seventh successive quarter," Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit said.

Resistance 3: Chf0.9440 (Jun 6 high)

Resistance 2: Chf0.9420 (Jun 10 high)

Resistance 1: Chf0.9360 (session high)

Current price: Chf0.9323

Support 1: Chf0.9250 (МА(200) Н1)

Support 2: Chf0.9180 (Jun 19 low)

Support 3: Chf0.9130 (Jun 13 low)

U.K. retail sales volume including automotive fuel grew 2.1 percent in May from a month ago, when it was down 1.1 percent, the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday. It was stronger than the expected 0.8 percent increase.

The increase in volume, excluding automotive fuel was also 2.1 percent, which reversed last month's 1.2 percent drop. Economists had forecast 1 percent rise.

An increase of 3.5 percent in food store sales helped the overall turnover to log a faster-than-expected increase.

Annual growth in retail sales volume including auto fuel more than doubled to 1.9 percent from 0.8 percent in April. Economists had forecast sales to grow only 0.2 percent.

Excluding auto fuel, sales advanced 2.1 percent annually after rising 0.6 percent in April. The rate of increase far exceeded the 0.5 percent expected rise.

AFT sold E1.48bln vs target E1.0bln-E1.5bln

- E400mln of 0.45% July 2016 OATi, average yield -0.56%, Cover 2.94

- E685mln of 0.25% July 2024 OATei, average yield 0.70%, Cover 2.15

- E395mln of 1.85% July 2027 OATei, average yield 0.80%, Cover 2.39.

Tesoro sold E4.016bln vs target E3.0bln-E4.0bln

- E1.381bln of 4.10% July 2018 Obligacion, cover 2.15

- E1.118bln of 5.50% Apr 2021 Obligacion; cover 1.96

- E1.517bln of 4.40% Oct 2023 Obligacion; cover 1.84 vs 2.52

Tesoro releases further auction results:

- Sold 4.10% July 2018 Obligacion at avg yield 3.592%

- Sold 5.50% Apr 2021 Obligacion at avg yield 4.353%

- Sold 4.40% Oct 2023 Obligacion at avg yield 4.765% vs 4.517% Prev.

Tail calculations:

- 4.10% Jul 2018 Obligacion; 3.6bps

- 5.50% Apr 2021 Obligacion; 1.8bps

- 4.40% Oct 2023 Obligacion; 5.3bps vs 1.9bps prev

French private sector activity declined at a slower pace in June, preliminary results of a survey by Markit Economics showed Thursday.

The composite output index, that measures performance of both manufacturing and service sectors, rose to 46.8 in June from 44.6 in May. The index is now at its highest reading in ten months.

However, the score which was below the no-change mark of 50 suggested contraction of the sector.

The purchasing managers' index, that reflects the health of the French manufacturing sector, rose to a 16-month high of 48.3 in June from 46.4 in May. The factory output index rose to 48.1 from 45.2 in May. This was also the highest score in 16 months.

The services activity index climbed to a ten-month high of 46.5 from 44.3 in May.

The rate of contraction in new business at French private sector companies moderated further during June. Employment declined at a solid pace similar to May's, the report said.

German producer price inflation rose less than expected in May, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Thursday.

The producer price index rose 0.2 percent year-on-year in May, faster than a 0.1 percent increase in the previous month. Economists had forecast an increase of 0.3 percent.

Producer prices in the intermediate goods industry fell 0.9 percent annually in May. Capital goods prices rose 0.8 percent and that of consumer goods increased 2.1 percent. Prices in the energy sector were 0.5 percent lower than a year earlier.

On a monthly basis, PPI fell 0.3 percent compared with forecast of 0.1 percent decline. In April, the index was down 0.2 percent.

EUR/USD $1.3175, $1.3200, $1.3250, $1.3300, $1.3400

USD/JPY Y95.00, Y95.05, Y95.15, Y95.25, Y95.50, Y96.00, Y96.50, Y97.00, Y98.00

AUD/USD $0.9350, $0.9500

CBP/USD $1.5335, $1.5530, $1.5600, $1.5775

EUR/NOK Nok7.6125

AUD/JPY Y90.50

EUR/CHF Chf1.2150

EUR/JPY Y128.75, Y130.70

01:30 Australia RBA Bulletin Quarter II

01:45 China HSBC Manufacturing PMI (Preliminary) June 49.2 49.4 48.3

The dollar rose for a second day versus the euro before U.S. housing and manufacturing data that may add to the case for reduced monetary stimulus as flagged yesterday by the Federal Reserve. Purchases in the U.S. of previously owned houses probably climbed 0.6 percent from a month earlier to a 5 million annualized rate in May, the strongest since November 2009, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News ahead of data from the National Association of Realtors today. The Dollar Index was near a one-week high after Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank could reduce its bond buying this year and end it in 2014 if the economy achieves sustainable growth. The Federal Open Market Committee yesterday left unchanged the monthly pace of bond purchases unchanged at $85 billion, saying that "downside risks to the outlook for the economy and the labor market" have diminished. Policy makers raised their growth forecasts for next year to a range of 3 percent to 3.5 percent and reduced their outlook for unemployment to as low as 6.5 percent.

The yen strengthened versus a majority of its peers as Asian stocks extended a global decline, boosting demand for the currency as a haven.

The Aussie dropped after HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said the preliminary reading of their Purchasing Managers' Index for China's manufacturing was at 48.3 in June. That compares with the 49.1 estimated by economists and below the 50 level that indicates expansion.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair fell below $ 1.3270

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair fell below $ 1.5450

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair rose below Y97.00

With the FOMC meeting and Fed Chair Bernanke's press conference behind us, focus again turns to the calendar and Thursday sees a slew of data on both sides of the Atlantic. The calendar gets underway at 0600GMT, with the release of the German May PPI numbers. Expectations are for a fall of 0.1% on month and rising 0.3% on year. Also at 0600GMT, the German FinMin will publish its monthly fiscal and economic report. Today also sees the release of flash euro area state and combined PMI data for June, starting with the French numbers at 0658GMT. Other main releases see German PMIs at 0738GMT and the combined Euro area numbers at 0758GMT. Expectations are for all the main readings to edge higher from the May levels. At 0730GMT, the latest SNB monetary policy decision is expected, along with the Financial Stability report. No change is expected in policy. Germany Bundesbank Board member Andreas Dombret will deliver a speech on debt crisis at 0750GMT in Frankfurt. There is more central bank activity at 0800GMT, when the Norges Bank's latest policy decision will be released. No change is expected in policy, with rates seen held at 1.5%. At 0800GMT, the Italian industrial orders numbers for April will cross the wires.

(pare/closed(00:00 GMT +02:00)/change, %)

EUR/USD $1,3295 -0,74%

GBP/USD $1,5484 -0,99%

USD/CHF Chf0,9279 +0,85%

USD/JPY Y96,28 +0,92%

EUR/JPY Y128,03 +0,21%

GBP/JPY Y149,10 -0,03%

AUD/USD $0,9280 -2,20%

NZD/USD $0,7886 -1,33%

USD/CAD C$1,0270 +0,55%