FX OUTLOOK-Euro heads for best week since Jan; rally may fade
* U.S. dollar index heads for worst week since May, 2009By Wanfeng ZhouNEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The euro headed for its best
week in nine months against the dollar on Friday on optimism
that European leaders would take bold steps to tackle the debt
crisis, but a lack of concrete actions could limit further
gains.Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs began
a two-day meeting in Paris on Friday, a day after the euro
zone’s 17 member nations completed their approval of the
expansion of the region’s bailout fund.Hopes that officials will agree on the outlines of a plan
in time for a European Union summit on Oct. 23 boosted the
euro. Discussions that China, India and other fast-growing
economies might bolster the capital base of the International
Capital Fund to help rescue Greece further lifted sentiment.That lifted the common currency to a one-month high just
beneath $1.39. In the near term, analysts said momentum traders
could still push the euro a bit higher, though it remained
fragile and may hit a top ahead of $1.40 in the coming days.”A lot of this is a short-covering rally,” said Mark
McCormick, currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in
New York.Even though there’s positive news from the G20 and optimism
that European policymakers would take bold actions, “there’s
still a lot of time in between when these things are announced,
when these things can be enacted, and when they can be put in
place to actually forestall further contagion,” he said.The euro touched a session high of $1.3895 on
trading platform EBS. It was up 3.5 percent on the week, on
pace for its biggest weekly rise since mid-January.Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed
Friday that speculators reduced bets against the euro, as they
slightly boosted long positions in the U.S. dollar.Talk that the European Central Bank was buying Italian and
Spanish debt also helped lift the single currency off an
earlier low of $1.3723.SPAIN DOWNGRADEStandard & Poor’s cut Spain’s credit rating, underlining
the challenges facing euro zone officials to contain the debt
crisis. Fitch put a number of European banks on review for
possible downgrades.Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos pledged to pass
sweeping austerity measures in parliament next week, declaring
that Greece was in a “fight for our existence.”Inspectors from the European Union, International Monetary
Fund and European Central Bank said they would recommend
releasing an 8 billion euro tranche of aid that Greece needs to
keep paying its bills past mid-November. But they warned that
the country was slipping behind on its targets.Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, said
for now, hopes that Greece will receive loans and steps to
expand the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) have
calmed market jitters.But he added: “an actual plan will be tougher to deliver,
and the Greek issue will return as that country inevitably
fails to meets its new targets. A default on Greek debt still
leaves risk that investors will refuse to fund Spain or Italy,
countries that the current EFSF isn’t large enough to bail
out.”Against the yen, the dollar rose 0.5 percent to 77.22 , after hitting 77.45 on EBS, near a one-month high
set on Wednesday. On the week, the dollar gained 0.6 percent.An increase in risk appetite hurt the safe-haven dollar,
which slipped 0.5 percent against a basket of currencies . The dollar index was on track for a weekly loss of 2.6
percent, the biggest since May 2009.Earnings releases next week from U.S. companies, including
Citigroup , Goldman Sachs and Apple could
also affect the euro’s performance, which has closely tracked
investors’ appetite for stocks and other risky assets.
Apple’s iPhone 4S goes on sale, fans say tribute to Jobs
* Sales start Australia, first of seven countriesSYDNEY, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Apple Inc’s iPhone 4S
finally hit stores around the globe on Friday, with fans
expected to snap up the final gadget unveiled during Steve Jobs’
lifetime, many buying the phone as a tribute to the former Apple
boss.”I think a lot of people are going to buy the iPhone 4S
because it was the last iPhone Steve worked on,” said Wil
Batterham, 15, camped outside the Sydney Apple store. “People
are saying it was named after him, like iPhone 4S, for Steve.”Apple’s 13 Australian stores will be the first to open their
doors at 8.00 a.m. local time (2100 GMT, Thursday) to sell the
iPhone 4S.CEO Tim Cook and his executive team hope the first device
launched without Apple’s former visionary leader at the helm,
will safeguard their global market share lead.The iPhone 4S — introduced to the world just a day before
Jobs died — was dubbed a disappointment because it fell short
of being a revolution in design, but glowing reviews centered
around its “Siri” voice-activated software have since helped it
set a record pace in initial, online sales orders.Apple fans showed no disappointment in Sydney on Friday as
they queued to purchase a new phone, ahead of sales in Japan,
Germany, France, Britain and North America.Apple said it did not release sales figures on launch day,
so gauging the initial sales may be difficult. Apple said it had
taken more than 1 million online orders in the first 24 hours
after its release, exceeding the 600,000 for the iPhone 4,
though that model was sold in fewer countries.Some analysts expect fourth-quarter iPhone shipments of as
much as 30 million or more, almost double from a year ago.Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone uses chips from Qualcomm Inc
, Toshiba and a host of smaller semiconductor
companies, according to repair firm iFixit, which cracked the
device open on Thursday.First-day sales of Apple gadgets are typically a jubilant
celebration around the world, but Apple has conspicuously
avoided any mention or showcase of Jobs for the iPhone 4S global
sales, preferring a more “business as usual” approach.However Apple fans in Sydney made sure Jobs was part of the
launch, with a small flower, candle and photo shrine outside the
glass-fronted store.”We decided to do it because of Steve,” said Tom Mosca, 15,
sitting on a sleeping mat beside the front door, where he has
camped for three nights. “It was the last phone that he had an
effect on and designed so we just thought it would be nice.”SPEECH RECOGNITION A WINNERAnalysts say Cook needs to move out from under his former
mentor’s enormous shadow soon, and avoid clinging to the Jobs’
mystique to preserve its brand.More immediately, with Google Inc Android phones
gaining momentum, Apple needs the iPhone 4S to be a blockbuster.The iPhone — seen as the market’s gold standard — is its
highest-margin product and accounts for 40 percent of its annual
revenue. It is the world’s biggest selling smartphone,
maintaining a slim market-share lead over Samsung’s
Galaxy, at 18.4 versus 17.8 percent worldwide.In a sign of how tough the competition is, two doors along
from the Sydney Apple store, Samsung has been selling its new
Galaxy SII for only A$2 to its first 10 customers each day,
prompting Samsung fans to also camp out on the footpath.But analysts point to several factors in Apple’s favor: a
$199 price that matches up well with rival devices such as
Amazon.com Inc’s “Fire” tablet; availability promised
on more than 100 carriers by the end of 2011, far more than its
predecessors; and glowing reviews.Apple’s iconic smartphone comes with a faster processor and
a better and more light-sensitive camera, but little else to
separate it from its predecessor. But tech experts say the real
gems lie beneath the phone’s familiar sleek casing.Influential reviewers Walt Mossberg and David Pogue raved
about “Siri” — a voice-command activated assistant that
responds to spoken commands and questions in context, such as
queries about the weather or a friend’s phone number.But Mossberg added that “despite Siri, the iPhone 4S isn’t a
dramatic game-changer”.
