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novembro 04, 2004
Euro hits near-nine month high against dollar
The euro rose to the highest level against the dollar for almost nine months, nearing an all-time record peak, as dealers focused on concerns about the US economy following the election.
The euro rose to 1.2866 dollars in early European trading from 1.2821 late on Wednesday in New York.
The dollar stood at 106.44 yen against 106.18 on Wednesday.
The euro climbed to as high as 1.2868 dollars, the highest level since February 18, when it reached the record summit of 1.2929 dollars.
US President George W. Bush's convincing re-election victory provided only brief respite for the dollar, analysts said.
"Although a significant portion of uncertainty has left the markets (following Bush's win), currency traders see no value in holding on to dollar-longs in the face of the continuation of an implicitly weak dollar policy and a deteriorating budget deficit," said Ashraf Laidi, chief currency strategist with MG Financial Group.
The dollar has been struggling against the euro and yen in recent weeks on fears over how the United States will fund its ballooning current account and budget deficits, particularly when record oil prices are likely to dampen growth.
Last month, Washington announced a record 2004 budget deficit of 413 billion dollars, while the trade deficit in August rose to 54 billion dollars, the second largest ever.
Elsewhere, markets awaited interest rate decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England, both due Thursday.
Economists expected the central banks to leave official borrowing costs unchanged from last month -- at 2.0 percent in the eurozone and 4.75 percent in Britain.
Dealers meanwhile said markets were keenly awaiting Friday's release of monthly US jobs data, a crucial indicator on the health of the world's biggest economy.
US firms were expected to have generated as many as 179,000 jobs in October after a rise of 96,000 in September, according to analysts' consensus forecasts.
The euro was changing hands at 1.2866 dollars from 1.2821 late on Wednesday in New York, 136.35 yen (136.15), 0.6946 pounds (0.6932) and 1.5309 Swiss francs (1.5292).
The dollar stood at 106.44 yen (106.18) and 1.1948 Swiss francs (1.1934).
The pound was at 1.8444 dollars (1.8486), 196.32 yen (196.37) and 2.2039 Swiss francs (2.2064).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold stood at 425.80 dollars against 423.50 late on Wednesday.
Publicado por esta às novembro 4, 2004 02:24 PM