US Dollar Soars To New Multi-day Highs Against Majors
During early European deals on Monday, the US dollar rose to new multi-day highs against its major counterparts as a fall in most Asian and European stocks boosted demand for the safe haven greenback.
The dollar and the yen are viewed as safe-haven currencies and both currencies gain, when investors turn risk averse and fall when risk appetite improves.
Most of the stock markets were modestly lower today as investors look to this week's Federal Reserve meeting for more clues about the strength of the U.S. Recovery.
Early in Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.4 percent, Germany's DAX fell 0.8 percent and France's CAC-40 dropped 0.3 percent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 150.60 points, or 0.7 percent, at 21,472.85 in back-and-forth trade, while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.3 percent to 1,695.50. China's Shanghai benchmark was up 0.2 percent at 2,967.01 and Australia's benchmark shed 0.3 percent.
Japanese financial markets are closed today for public holidays. Financial markets in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore were also closed Monday for holidays.
World markets posted more gains last week as U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said recession in the world's largest economy was "likely over."
This week, investors will watch closely what the Fed has to say about the economy and the scale of the recovery after a two-day meeting that wraps up Wednesday.
At its August meeting, the FOMC decided along the expected lines and maintained the fed funds futures rate unchanged. In its post-meeting policy statement, the Fed noted that economic activity is leveling out, an improvement from its previous opinion that the pace of contraction is slowing. There weren't any major changes to the references the committee made towards other measures.
Regarding its Treasury securities purchasing program, the central bank said the committee would gradually slow the pace of these transactions. The central bank anticipates the full amount of $300 billion to be purchased by the end of October. The FOMC reiterated its commitment to retain interest rates at exceptionally low levels for an extended period.
Against the European currency, the US dollar edged higher during early deals on Monday. At 2:35 am ET, the dollar reached a 6-day high of 1.4639 against the euro, compared to 1.4704 hit late New York Friday. The next upside target level for the dollar is seen around 1.437.
The US currency that closed Friday's North American session at 1.6246 against the British pound rose to a 19-day high of 1.6137 at 2:35 am ET Monday. The pound-dollar pair is currently trading at 1.6168 with 1.603 seen as the next target level.
British house prices increased in September on rising confidence and dwindling stock of property, results of a closely watched survey showed Monday.
Average asking prices were up 0.6% in September from August as autumn sellers raised price expectations, the property website Rightmove reported. House prices had declined 2.2% in August after rising 0.6% in July.
Meanwhile, the latest Quarterly Bulletin from the Bank of England showed today that sustainable rebalancing in the UK and the global economy depend on structural forces, including the extent to which consumers in deficit nations remain restrained and domestic demand in surplus countries pick up.
Against the Swiss franc, the greenback traded higher during Monday's early deals. At 5:15 am ET, the dollar-franc pair climbed to a 4-day high of 1.0357, compared to Friday's closing value of 1.0305. If the pair gains further, 1.055 is seen as the next target level.
The Swiss National Bank said today in a report that the M3 money supply increased 7.7% year-on-year in August, unchanged from the previous month. A year ago, the M3 money supply was up 2.5%. The M2 money supply climbed 41.8% on an annual basis in August, faster than the 41.3% growth in the previous month.
The dollar that closed Friday's New York deals at 91.46 against the Japanese yen advanced to 92.21 at 5:15 am ET. This set a 11-day high for the dollar. On the upside, 93.4 is seen as the next target level for the dollar-yen pair.
The Conference Board is scheduled to release a report on the U.S. leading index for August at 10 AM ET. The consensus estimate calls for a 0.7% increase in the leading indicators index for the month.
News are provided by InstaForex.