By: Barbara Zigah

The U.S. Dollar Index fell to a 3-month low in Asian trading as investors’ worry over the U.S. debt crisis edges higher. The greenback was lower against its safe-haven counterparts the Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc, but also against commodity-linked currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand Dollars, which rallied on key economic data. One Japanese banker wryly noted that the U.S. Dollar was somehow managing to become even less attractive than before.

As reported at 3:39 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar Index slipped to 73.421 .DXY, a 3-month low and traders believe it likely to fall further, even pass the 72.696 low struck in May just after the Lehman debacle.

The Dollar’s decline against the Japanese Yen, to 77.85 Yen, a 0.1% fall, is causing some concern in Tokyo where central bankers are pondering another intervention. The Yen is quickly approaching the point at which the G7 moved to intervene in mid-March, though most analysts believe that any intervention now will be a sole move by the Bank of Japan. Japanese government officials have been critical about the U.S. debt crisis, noting that a default could be exceptionally detrimental to the Japanese financial system.