By: Barbara Zigah
With investors covering their short positions, the U.S. Dollar made gains against the single currency Euro in Friday’s Tokyo trading, off of the 1-year low touched on yesterday. Analysts attribute the greenback’s respite to investors’ trimming their short positions ahead of next week’s holidays in Singapore and Japan. As reported at 2:33 p.m. (JST) in Japan, the U.S. Dollar was trading at $1.4717, a .2% increase over yesterday’s low of $1.4768 which was hit on the EBS trading platform. Over the past few weeks, the U.S. Dollar has lost more than 2.7% against the Euro.
Since early March, the U.S. Dollar has been battered by investors’ moving into higher risk assets in an effort to earn profits, especially now that evidence is pointing towards healthier economies worldwide. The U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback’s value versus a group of major currencies, gained .2% to trade at 76.353 .DXY. Yesterday, it struck a low of 76.010 .DXY. Over the past month, the U.S. Dollar Index has lost more than 2% of its value, and most analysts believe that this respite will be short lived. According to one forex analyst in Japan, Asian players are adjusting their positions in advance of the long weekend in Asia.