Risk Aversion Sends U.S. Dollar Higher

By: Barbara Zigah

In spite of the U.S. Super Committee’s failure to come to some consensus regarding the U.S. deficit, investors view the ongoing crisis in the Eurozone as a situation more worrying, thus have sought the safe-haven refuge of the greenback, pushing it higher against the Euro. As reported at 3:33 p.m. (EST) in Sydney, the U.S. Dollar Index, which is used to gauge the U.S. Dollar’s strength versus a weighted basket of other currencies, rose to an overnight high of 78.516 .DXY, a price not seen in more than a month, before retreating to 78.352 .DXY.

The Euro, under pressure but resilient nonetheless, was remarkably steady in the Asian trading session, holding at $1.3485; over the past few days, it has remained range-bound within $1.3420 and $1.3610. Other commodity linked currencies, however, including the Australian Dollar, fared less well, moving farther off parity to $0.9833 after breaking through a key support level at around $0.9910. .

Risk aversion is the predominant sentiment among investors, as various credit ratings and outlook warnings have been issued by Moody’s and S&P. Of the most immediate concern is whether or not France can hold onto its coveted AAA rating; Moody’s recently cautioned that the outlook for France has worsened given the lowering of recent growth forecasts and their exposure to Eurozone sovereign debt.