By: Barbara Zigah
The greenback continues to lose ground against major currencies, with the U.S. dollar Index holding close to a 3-year low in Asian trading, and likely to see the biggest weekly drop since mid-January. As reported at 3:00 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the greenback’s strength against other major currencies, slipped to 73.030 .DXY, a 0.1% decline and near the 72.871 .DXY low struck yesterday. So far this week, the index has lost about 1.4% of its value, and analysts predict further declines today as investors reposition their portfolios for the month end accounting.
Investor sentiment for the U.S. Dollar is seen as dwindling with the Federal Reserve’s recent reassurance that the central bank has no timetable for tightening the current easy money monetary policy. In support of the Fed’s stance, it was yesterday reported that the U.S. economy saw only minimal growth in the first quarter, while initial claims for unemployment benefits were higher than analysts’ had previously forecast.
The common currency Euro gained 0.2% against the U.S. Dollar trading at $1.4846, close to the 17-month high of $1.4882 struck yesterday on the EBS trading platform. Analysts say resistance is pegged at $1.4906. The Australian Dollar, however, fell against the greenback trading at $1.0901, a decline of 0.3%, yet still within striking distance of a 29-year high of $1.0948.