Dollar extends broad rally as euro withers
Combination of factors contributes to greenback’s gains
By William L. Watts & Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
Last Update: 8/8/2008 4:18:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — A sell-off in crude-oil futures, surging stocks on
Wall Street and U.S. economic data showing a rise in productivity further fueled
a dollar rally Friday initially sprung by concerns about eurozone growth.
The dollar index (DXY), a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted
basket of currencies, was at 75.819, up sharply from 74.567 in late North
American trading Thursday.
The euro was down more than 2%, breaking below the $1.500-mark for the first time
since February. It was at $1.5015 in recent trading.
“The cascading of sell-stops has been instrumental in accelerating the euro
losses,” said Ashraf Laidi, chief foreign-exchange strategist at CMC Markets U.S.
“From a fundamental standpoint, this is payback time for the European and
Antipodean currencies as their economies show faster pace of deterioration,” he
said.
Laidi pegged $1.4920 as the next support level for the euro.
In energy trading, crude-oil futures closed Friday at a three-month low of
$115.20 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $4.82, or 4%, for
the session.
Possibly Related Posts:
- Obama threatens citizens’ Second Amendment rights
- While everyone is waiting for the market close, I thought this might be of interest…
- “The real recession is yet to start for most people who are now employed.”
- GM is a great example of incompetent capital management.
- Being The Numbers Are What They are
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif "\\"){kind=small}
Stumble it!