Forex - Dollar mixed in early Asian trade
Published Aug 08, 2011 07:18PM ET
In early Asian trade, the greenback was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD falling 0.09% to hit 1.4166.
In Monday’s U.S. session, stocks plummeted soon after the opening bell as investors ran from equity positions to less volatile treasury bonds and foreign exchange holdings.
Late Friday after the market's close, Standard & Poor's downgraded the United States’ long-term credit rating from AAA to AA-plus, citing debt levels in the world's largest economy.
During the Monday session, U.S. President Barack Obama attempted to ease fears in the market surrounding the downgrade, blaming current debt woes on political gridlock in Washington.
“No matter what some agency may say, we’ve always been and always will be a triple-A country,” Obama said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 5.6% to 10,809.85, the Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 6.9% to 2,357.69, and the S&P 500 nosedived 6.7% to 1,119.46.
Monday's stock market sell-off erased USD1.35 trillion in investor wealth worldwide, according to the 5.2% drop in the MSCI World Index.
The announcement late last week that the European Central Bank was buying Italian and Spanish government bonds in an effort to stave off further euro-zone debt, failed to spell relief to a market determined to dump equity holdings.
The greenback was up against the British pound, with GBP/USD slipping 0.01% to 1.6316.
The dollar gave up ground against both the yen and the Swiss franc with USD/JPY declining 0.19% to hit 77.62, and USD/CHF lower by 0.07% to hit 0.7546.
The greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts with USD/CAD down 0.11% to hit 0.9934, AUD/USD down 0.61% to hit 1.0123, and NZD/USD down by 0.59% to hit 0.8158.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.07% at 75.00.
Markets were expected to focus on Tuesday’s decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve on short-term interest rates which currently stand at 0.25%.
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