By CountingPips.com
The US Dollar has been mixed across the board in forex trading today as the European common currency has rebounded after three straight days of decline on the new plan for Greece. The American currency has been advancing 
versus the Japanese yen, Canadian dollar and Australian dollar while falling against the euro, British pound and Swiss franc, according to currency data by Oanda. The New Zealand dollar is virtually unchanged versus the US dollar from the days opening exchange rate.
The euro has mounted a comeback today against the dollar after spending the week under heavy selling pressure due to the Greek debt crisis and Portugal’s credit downgrade. The EU leaders summit has produced a safety-net agreement for Greece that includes bilateral loans from EU countries and backup loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if needed. The news has spurred the euro to bounce back from yesterday’s 10-month low level to trading near the 1.3400 level today.
US GDP revised lower
Economic news out of the U.S. showed that the economy expanded by less than estimated in the fourth quarter of 2009 but still at the fastest pace in over 6 years, according to a release by the U.S. Commerce Department. The third government estimate showed that the real Gross Domestic Product grew on an annualized basis by 5.6 percent in the October to December quarter following a real 2.2 percent growth rate in the third quarter. The previous estimate put the GDP advance at 5.9 percent.
A significant contributor to the gain in GDP for the fourth quarter was a slowdown in the cutbacks of business inventories. Inventories fell by just $19.7 billion in the fourth quarter after a decrease of $139.2 billion in the third quarter and a decrease of $160.2 billion in the second quarter. This slowdown in the slashing of inventories accounted for adding approximately 3.79 percent to the GDP increase.
The fourth quarter GDP numbers advanced by the highest growth rate since 2003 and GDP has now increased for two straight quarters after contracting for four quarters in a row. The economy declined by 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2009 and by 0.7 percent in the second quarter before the third quarter’s 2.2 percent rise. Overall for the calendar year of 2009, GDP decreased by 2.4 percent following a 0.4 percent increase for 2008 and a 2.1 percent growth rate in 2007.
EUR/USD Forex Chart -The Euro reversing course today versus the US Dollar in forex trading. The Eurozone reached an agreement on a rescue package for Greece and helped bring the Euro off of a 10-month low versus the dollar. The EUR/USD had fallen three straight days and touched a low at 1.3266 yesterday before climbing back to the 1.3400 area today.
