Investor profit taking on high yielding asset-based currencies helped boost the U.S. Dollar in Asian trading today. Yesterday, the U.S. Dollar Index touched on a new 14-month low, trading at 75.103 .DXY; as reported at 1:09 pm (JST) in Tokyo, the .DXY recovered slightly, trading at 75.565 .DXY. Investors cashed in their New Zealand and Canadian Dollars to reap the profits made on recent multi-month peaks. The New Zealand Dollar traded at $0.7495, holding steady from the 1% loss on Tuesday, while the Canadian Dollar held at CAD 1.0498, following yesterday’s 2% loss. The Australian Dollar also backed off of a 14-month peak of $0.9300 hit on Tuesday, to trade at $0.9223. The single currency Euro retreated from yesterday’s newly established 14-month high, trading at $1.4916, a decline of .2%.
The U.S. Dollar has been under considerable pressure in recent months, and investors see no change in U.S. policy any time soon. Comments by Janet Yellen, the President of the San Francisco office of the Federal Reserve Bank, reinforced investor sentiment; she commented that any tightening of the loose monetary policy currently in place would not be considered for many months to come.