By: Barbara Zigah
As reported at 3:21 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar is struggling to recover from its lowest point versus commodity-linked currencies such as the New Zealand and Australian Dollars. Versus the single currency Euro, the greenback is floating close to its lowest price this calendar year as investors shift their funds into higher-yielding, albeit higher-risk currencies. Versus the U.S. Dollar, the New Zealand Dollar briefly touched on a 1-year high of $0.6993 before settling down to $0.6951. On Thursday, the New Zealand Reserve Bank will hold a policy meeting, though analysts predict that the outcome will be unchanged interest rates. Its Pacific Rim counterpart, the Australian Dollar briefly hit $0.8662, a 1-year peak. The Euro was up .1% in the day’s trading, holding at $1.4489 versus the USD; yesterday, it traded as high as $1.4535, the highest trade since the beginning of the year.
According to a currency strategist in Australia, the rally in gold shares has caused the floodgates to open on U.S. Dollar selling, and most of that is systematic-model and technically-related selling. The U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge of the greenback’s value versus a basket of major currencies, lost 1% yesterday to trade at 77.047 .DXY, a 1-year low. Only versus the Japanese Yen was the U.S. Dollar able to recover from yesterday’s .8% slide, holding steady at 92.38 Yen.