By: Barbara Zigah
The U.S. Dollar touched a new 5-month peak versus the single currency Euro in London trading today as continued investor concerns over the debt problems in Greece and other Euro-zone countries weighed heavily on the currency. The fiscal well-being of some European countries, e.g. Spain, Greece and Portugal, spurred investors to sell off their Euro-zone government bonds in favor of German-issued paper. The spread between Greek and German bonds rose to more than 3.11%, the largest spread since 2001 when the Greek nation joined the Euro-zone. Adding to the momentum was the IMF’s comments yesterday that the Portuguese deficit would increase to 8.6% of their GDP in this fiscal year, unless some new measures were implemented.
As of 10:00 a.m. (GMT), the U.S. Dollar had gained .3% on the Euro, to trade at $1.4055, just off a 5-month peak of $1.4045. The U.S. Dollar index, a measure of the greenback’s strength versus a basket of six major currencies, traded at 78.721 .DXY, the highest in nearly 5 months and, reaching above the 200-day moving average, an event not seen since May 2009.
Later today, investors will wait for news from the U.S. on weekly jobless claims and factory output, as well as the Goldman Sachs quarterly earnings report.