U.S. Dollar Slips VS Euro/AUD

As reported in Tokyo at 4:50 p.m. (JST), the U.S. Dollar slipped in Monday’s trading, touching on the lowest trade in nearly 7 weeks versus the single currency Euro, and a near 7-month low versus the Australia Dollar. On the EBS trading platform, the Euro traded at a high of $1.3670, though it retreated slightly to $1.3630, close to Friday’s late trading in New York. The Australian Dollar touched on a 7-month high, trading at $0.7714 before retreating to $0.7671. Globally, investors are encouraged by the better labor department figures coming out of the United States; as a result, they are diversifying broadly into alternate currencies. On Friday, the release of U.S. Labor Department statistics showed that the American economy lost fewer jobs than originally expected and raised hopes that the economic worst is now behind us. Some analysts argue that investors appear to be more confident now that the U.S. banking system stress tests and labor numbers are no longer in question. One currency strategist on Hong Kong commented that the shift into additional currencies was based more on investor need to diversify, as opposed to a specific attraction to the single currency Euro. The Euro traded at 134.80 Yen, a 1-month high, before retreating to 134.17 Yen.