By: Barbara Zigah
With growing optimism over the bettering health of the world’s economies, investors shed themselves of the low-yielding U.S. Dollar, plunging the greenback to its lowest levels in a year, in favor of higher yielding, asset-based currencies such as the New Zealand Dollar, as well as the Euro.
As reported at 2:39 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar Index slumped to 75.913 .DXY, a loss of .27%; earlier in the day’s trading, the greenback had fallen to 75.892 .DXY, the lowest trade since September 2008. High-yielding currencies benefited with the New Zealand Dollar surging to its highest price in more than 13 months versus the U.S. Dollar, trading at $0.7315. The Euro also managed to surpass earlier resistance and traded at $1.4843, a 1-year high on the EBS trading platform, then settled back at $1.4816, still an increase of .2% in the day’s trading.
Asian trading is somewhat subdued this week, with Japanese markets closed until Thursday as holiday celebrations draw to a close today. Nonetheless, early trading was volatile with speculators wanting to rid themselves of the U.S. currency. The Japanese Yen moved up on the U.S. Dollar, trading at 90.72 Yen, an increase of .4% from yesterday’s late trade on the EBS platform. One currency strategist in Japan suggests that the U.S. currency is presently very vulnerable, especially as it drifts towards key levels on several currency crosses and it’s only a matter of time before the loss-cut sell orders are initiated.
U.S. Dollar Falls to new 1-year Low versus New Zealand Dollar
Barbara Zigah