Greenback suffers, hits one-year low

The US dollar slipped to a one-year low against a currency basket yesterday after higher global shares and gold prices cranked up risk appetite and boosted currencies seen as being riskier to hold than the US currency.

Against the currency basket, the US currency fell as low as 76.187, its weakest level in a year. By 10:18 GMT, the euro traded at $1.4675, inching down from the day's high but hovering 0.1 per cent higher on the day. The single European currency offered little reaction to figures confirming euro zone inflation fell 0.2 per cent year-on-year.

The US dollar against yen fell one per cent to 90.12 yen according to electronic trading platform EBS. The yen rallied to a seven-month high against the beleaguered dollar after Japan's incoming finance minister said a strong yen had advantages for the nation's economy. Underlining dollar weakness, the euro rallied to a nine-month high $1.4715, a move analysts said was an extension of ongoing negative sentiment on the US currency, whose safe-haven status has diminished on the view the global economy is improving.

"The dollar-selling trend remains," said Lauren Rosborough, senior currency analyst at Westpac in London, noting traders were focused on $1.4720, above which would be the euro's highest since September 2008.

"The $1.4720-1.4750 region should be capped in the short term, but once we get into NY trade the tendency will be to push the dollar lower."

 

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