Foreign Currency Trading

PMC CFO Departure Seen As Near-Term Bump

NEW YORK — Shares of PMC Sierra Inc., a maker of integrated circuits used in the telecom industry, plunged in morning trading on Friday after the company said its financial chief would step down.

On Thursday the company said that Alan Krock, current CFO, will leave after a "reasonable" transitional period. PMC Sierra also backed its second-quarter sales guidance.

(AFX UK Focus) 2006-07-06 13:55 GMT: German shares higher midafternoon as ECB leaves leading interest rates unchanged

FRANKFURT (AFX) - Shares were higher in midafternoon trade, boosted by the European Central Bank's decision to leave leading interest rates unchanged and by US futures indicating a positive opening to morning trade on Wall Street, dealers said.

At 2.25 pm, the DAX 30 index was 47.68 points or 0.85 pct higher at 5,673.31, having moved between 5,635.27 and 5,683.66 so far this session.

The MDAX was up 47.81 points or 0.61 pct at 7,866.17, while the TecDAX rose 4.54 points or 0.69 pct at 658.33.

The DAX futures contract was at 5,710.0, up 52.0 points or 0.92 pct, while bund futures were at 114.87, up 0.10.

The euro last traded at 1.2738 usd, against 1.2728 in midday London trade.

Deutsche Boerse led large-caps higher as it gained 2.98 eur or 2.80 pct to 109.54, as an article in Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that the exchange was interested in creating an alliance with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), dealers said.

Pennies may soon be a thing of the past

PLYMOUTH, Mass. -- In this village settled by thrifty Pilgrims, you can still buy penny candy for a penny, but tourist Alan Ferguson doubts he'll be able to dig any 1-cent pieces out of his pockets.

He rarely carries pennies because "they take up a lot of room for how much value they have." Instead, like so many other Americans, he dumps his pennies into a bucket back home in Sarasota, Fla.

Pity the poor penny!

It packs so little value that merry kids chuck pennies into the fountain near the candy store, just to watch them splash and sink. Stray pennies turn up everywhere: in streets, cars, sofas, beaches, even landfills with the rest of the garbage.

A penny bought a loaf of bread in early America, but it's a loafer of a coin in an age of inflation and affluence, slowly sliding into monetary obsolescence.

SA business stays invested in Zim

There is a significant South African business presence in Zimbabwe. About 27 of our biggest listed companies have operations there, and a number are also listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. Some of these are its top performers. Strong economic ties were maintained despite the often mismatched political dispensations on either side of the border. Zimbabwe was, until recently, South Africa's most important trading partner in Africa, and one of the 15 countries globally with which South Africa exchanges the highest volume of trade. Local companies operating in Zimbabwe continued to find ways to deal with the country's distorted and largely dysfunctional economy in order to maintain a presence there in expectation of eventual political change and economic recovery. The main findings of research conducted into the experiences of companies operating in, and doing business with Zimbabwe include: Long-standing business ties have not been severed by the current economic problems, although many companies have preferred to ring-fence their Zimbabwe operations, keeping financials separate from the overall group operations, as a way of riding out the storm.

Australian Dollar Set for Weekly Advance as Metals Prices Surge

July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Australia's dollar was poised for a second weekly advance as the price of metals jumped, bolstering the outlook for the nation's export earnings.

The currency today rose to near a three-week high as a measure of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange yesterday gained 5.4 percent, the most in six weeks. Higher commodity prices typically support the currency because raw materials account for about 60 percent of the nation's exports.

``There remains pretty good demand for the Australian dollar,'' Callum Henderson, head of foreign-exchange at Standard Chartered Bank Plc, said in Singapore. ``Australia will benefit from soaring commodity prices.''

The currency climbed to 74.59 U.S. cents as of 2:45 p.m. in Sydney from 74.19 cents in late Asian trading yesterday and 74.23 cents a week ago.

Further Dollar Weakness Still in Question after Mixed NFP

US Dollar - The much awaited non-farm payrolls report for the month of June was a big disappointment and did little to clear the air on whether the Federal Reserve could potentially raise interest rates again in August. Even though the headline non-farm payrolls number came in significantly below expectations, the details of the number and the household survey was not nearly as dollar bearish. We have already seen the US dollar recuperate a good portion of its losses against the Euro as the up tick in average hourly earnings, rebound in manufacturing payrolls and strong job growth as measured by the household survey create a more mixed report. The market was really banking on the NFP number to sway the dollar in one direction, however the ambiguous number only prolongs the uncertainty by making next month's non-farm payrolls report even more important.