U.S. Dollar Continues to Struggle versus High Yielders

By: Barbara Zigah

As reported at 10:47 a.m. in Sydney, the U.S. Dollar struggled to hold ground in Asia, trading near 3-week troughs versus other major currencies, most specifically high yielders, which were buoyed by whetted risk appetite. The U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback’s strength versus six other currencies, slipped to 77.015 .DXY. The greenback has been on the defensive since the end of last week when disappointing December labor data was released. That worse than expected data reinforced investor and analyst belief that the U.S. Federal Reserve will prolong the historic low interest rates until a firmer economic rebound is seen.

The single currency Euro held steady against the Dollar, trading at $1.4516 following Monday’s rise of .7% though resistance is expected as it nears $1.4570. The U.S. Dollar held steady versus the Japanese Yen, trading at 92.08 Yen; on Monday, the greenback slipped almost .6% as lower yields on U.S. short term treasuries worked against it. The high yielding Australian Dollar traded at $0.9300 versus the U.S. Dollar on continuing news that the Australian economy is firmly on the road to recovery. Likewise, the New Zealand Dollar held ground against the greenback, trading at $0.7400 following Monday’s .8% rise.

Barbara Zigah

After working on Wall Street, Barb began her second career as a freelance writer at Daily Forex, where the CEO recognized fresh, untapped potential and was willing to give her a try. She’s never looked back. Since then, she’s worked steadily as a freelance writer and editor in the financial services and Forex-related industry.