The exchange rate of the US greenback was down against the Kuwaiti dinar trading for KD 0.285 on Sunday and the euro was up to KD 0.369, compared to last Thursday's prices, according to the daily bulletin of the Central Bank of Kuwait. The bulletin said the sterling rose to stand at KD 0.432, and the Swiss franc increased to KD 0.297, while the Japanese yen was unchanged at 0.003. In the United States, data of major sectors were released, including GDP reading for the first quarter of the current year, with expectations of an increase by 2.5 percent. Statements by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke affected US markets, particularly for his indication at high unemployment rates, decrease of public spending, and economic slowdown. But it remained premature to anticipate tightening of monetary policies, the official had argued. In Europe, unemployment data was focus of attention, with key indexes and forecasts indicating continued weakness of the labor market due to deepening recession and governmental austerity policies. Italy is presently implementing tight-belt policies to tackle an inflated debt that is the highest in Europe following that of Greece.