Sun, Oct 31, 2010 page10

• Dollar declines for second month on QE2 prospects

  EXPECTATIONS: As the greenback hit a 15-year low against the yen, Asian currencies rose on speculation Fed easing will free up funds that can be invested in the region

  • Bloomberg
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  The US dollar dropped for a second straight month against a basket of currencies including the euro and yen on speculation the Federal Reserve will step up quantitative easing.

  The greenback reached a 15-year low against the yen on Friday, before the upcoming week’s US elections and meetings of the Fed, the European Central Bank, Bank of England, Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

  “You’ve got the quantitative-easing expectations for the Fed,” said Robert Lynch, head of currency strategy at HSBC Holdings PLC in New York. “That’s been one of the key contributors to the weakness in the dollar.”

  The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc uses to track the US dollar against the currencies of six major US trading partners including the euro, yen and pound, fell 1.9 percent to 77.214 on Friday, from 78.720 on Sept. 30.

  The US dollar decreased 3.7 percent to ￥80.40 on Friday — the lowest level since April 1995 — from ￥83.53 on Sept. 30. The US currency depreciated 2.3 percent to US$1.3947 per euro, from US$1.3634. The euro decreased 1.6 percent to ￥112.12, from ￥113.88.

  The pound recorded its biggest weekly gain against the greenback in over a year as better-than-expected economic growth figures damped expectations of asset purchases by the Bank of England.

  Sterling also rose against the euro for the first week in seven. The government statistics fueled optimism that Bank of England policymakers will delay a second-round of quantitative easing, known as QE2, while Standard & Poor’s restored its outlook on Britain’s credit rating to “stable” from “negative,” citing the growth outlook and budget cuts.

  Sterling gained 2.2 percent versus the dollar this week to trade at US$1.6023 as of 5pm on Friday in London, the biggest increase since the week ending Oct. 16 last year. It also rose 2.5 percent to ￡0.8673 per euro, breaking the longest streak of weekly declines since November 2004.

  The pound strengthened against all its 16 most-actively traded peers this week. It appreciated 1 percent to ￥128.95, snapping five weeks of declines.

  ASIAN CURRENCIES

  Asian currencies gained for a second month on speculation the Federal Reserve will pump more money into the economy, increasing the amount of funds that can be invested in higher-yielding assets.

  The Philippine peso led the gains as overseas investors plowed about US$12 billion into stocks in Taiwan, India, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand this month. Finance ministers from the G20 nations last week pledged to allow markets to determine foreign-exchange rates, rather than “competitive devaluations” aimed at supporting exports.

  The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the region’s 10 most-active currencies excluding the yen, rose 0.6 percent this month, adding to last month’s 2.6 percent increase, the biggest since March last year. The peso appreciated 2 percent to 43.025 versus the US currency in Manila, according to prices from inter-dealer broker Tullett Prebon PLC. The Singapore dollar advanced 1.2 percent to S$1.2985.

  South Korea’s won advanced 1.3 percent this month to 1,125.16 per US dollar, a second month of gains. The ringgit dropped 0.9 percent this month to 3.1115. It reached 3.0800 on Oct. 14, the strongest level since 1997.

  The New Taiwan dollar had a second monthly increase as global funds added to purchases of local stocks to benefit from the nation’s economic growth.

  The NT dollar rose 1.9 percent this month to NT$30.782 against its US counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc.

  The currency, which gained 0.1 percent on Friday and 0.4 percent this week, has appreciated 4.4 percent this year.

  Elsewhere, the Thai baht advanced 1.2 percent this month to 29.99, the Indian rupee climbed 1 percent to 44.48 and the yuan rose 0.3 percent to 6.6720. Indonesia’s rupiah fell 0.3 percent to 8,938.
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