Euro soars to nine-month peak vs. dollar

Euro surged against the dollar in American trade to the highest since last September, following earlier data from the euro zone and the US, the world's largest economy. 

As of 05:04 GMT, EUR/USD jumped 1.28% to 1.1325 from the opening of 1.1182, with an intraday low at 1.1179, and a nine-month high at 1.1327. 

Earlier, the German Financial Stability Committee warned that low interest rates represent one of the biggest risks facing German banks, and despite the recent strength of the German banking system, risks have grown as well, before we saw ECB president Mario Draghi's speech at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking, in Portugal.

Draghi noted that all growth indicators for euro zone economies are above average, pointing to some of evidence of accelerated growth, while asserting the ECB will follow a gradual path when attempting to change the monetary policy, while inflationary pressures remain unsustainable, therefore the current monetary easing policy will carry on as the recovery continues. 

From the US, earlier data showed an unexpected rise in consumer confidence in June, while the Richmond manufacturing index rose past expectations, as the S&P/CS Composite-20 House Price Index fell unexpectedly. 

Similarly, we followed Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker's speech about the economic outlook and international trade at the European Economics & Financial Centre, in London, at which he described the recent weakness inflationary pressures in the US as transient, while expressing his ongoing support for tightening the policy and increasing interest rates.

Harker said another Fed rate hike this year would be appropriate, while downgrading his inflation projections a bit, but still expecting inflation to hit the Federal Reserve's 2% target by 2018, adding that the Fed is moving into the right direction, and the labor sector is getting rid of its weaknesses almost entirely, and forecasting a growth rate of 2.3% in America this year.