U.S. Dollar Strengthens On Greek Concerns
May 14 2012 - 12:45AM
RTTF2
The U.S. dollar climbed against its major counterparts in the
Asian session on Monday as traders bet on safe havens after Greece
failed to form a new government.
Coalition talks in Greece continued throughout the weekend with
party leaders failing to form a government, forcing Greek President
Karolos Papoulias to call a final meeting to be held Monday.
Also, German Chancellor Angela Merkel lost an election in North
Rhine-Westphalia, raising doubts that her party will be able to
stay in power after next year's general election.
The greenback reached a 10-day high of 80.14 against the yen and
new 2-month high of 0.9328 against the franc, compared to Friday's
closing values of 79.93 and 0.9299, respectively. The next upside
target level for the greenback is seen at 80.5 against the yen and
0.94 against the franc.
Against the pound and the euro, the greenback climbed to more
than a 3-week high of 1.6056 and near a 4-month high of 1.2883 with
1.60 and 1.28 seen as the next upside target levels, respectively.
The greenback finished last week's deals at 1.6076 against the
pound and 1.2922 against the euro.
The greenback rose above parity against the Australian dollar
for the first time since December 20, 2011. The greenback spiked up
to 0.9998 against the aussie from last week's closing value of
1.0024. If the greenback rises further, it may target 0.990
level.
The number of housing loans approved in Australia picked up for
the first time in three months in March, data from the Australian
Bureau of Statistics showed today.
The number of housing finance commitments for owner occupied
housing rose 0.3 percent month-on-month in March after falling 2.5
percent in February and 1.5 percent in January. Economists were
expecting a 2 percent decline.
Against the NZ currency, the greenback that rose to more than a
4-month high of 0.7799 in early deals moved sideways thereafter. On
the upside, the greenback may target 0.775 level. The
kiwi-greenback pair is now trading at 0.7820, compared to last
week's close of 0.7831.
Retail sales in New Zealand declined at the fastest pace in
three years in the March quarter, after a temporary boost from the
Rugby World Cup in the previous two quarters played out, data
released by Statistics New Zealand showed.
Retail sales, including trade in vehicles, fell 1.5 percent
quarter-on-quarter in the March quarter.
The US dollar edged up to as high as 1.0024 against its Canadian
counterpart and held steady thereafter. The next upside target
level for the greenback is seen at 1.007. At last week's close, the
pair traded at 1.0005.
In the European session, German wholesale price index, Swiss
producer & import prices for April and the Eurozone industrial
production for March are slated for release.
There are no major economic reports due from U.S. today.
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