The US dollar and yen firmed as the euro came under pressure on Friday with investors seeking a safe haven from the growing financial market storm.
The euro at 9pm GMT was at US$1.3394 against US$1.3590 late on Thursday in New York.
The US dollar was meanwhile trading at ¥100.51 after ¥99.50 on Thursday.
With stock markets collapsing around the world, as frightened investors bail out of equities in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the dollar is seen as a refuge against chaos.
“It is difficult for anyone to miss the massive wave of risk aversion that has washed over the global markets these past two weeks,” John Kicklighter at Forex Capital Management said.
“With basic lending and borrowing [the lifeblood of the financial system] frozen by oppressively high rates, the markets are being held hostage by sentiment; and until pessimism eases, the risk-related assets will maintain their bearish trajectories,” he said.
European share prices fell hard on Friday, in line with big losses on Wall Street, which reassuring remarks from US President George W. Bush were unable to prevent.
Bush in an eight-minute speech sought to break a cycle of “uncertainty and fear” he blamed for aggravating the global financial meltdown, insisting US authorities can and will end the crisis.
In late New York trading, the dollar stood at 1.1376 Swiss francs from SF1.1289 on Thursday.
The pound was at US$1.7051 after US$1.7080.
India’s rupee tumbled to a record, leading declines in Asian currencies this week as investors pulled money from stock markets amid concern a deepening credit-market crisis will push the global economy into a recession.
The rupee dropped by the most against the greenback in more than 15 years as the Reserve Bank of India cut the cash reserve ratio for the second time in week amid a surge in lending costs between banks.
The Singapore dollar reached a one-year low after the city-state became the first economy in Asia to slip into a recession. Indonesia’s rupiah had the worst week since May 2006 after authorities shut the stock market for three days.
The rupee traded at 48.385 per dollar in Mumbai, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The currency fell as much as 4.4 percent from a week ago to an all-time low of 49.26, the biggest loss since March 1993.
The Singapore dollar dropped 2 percent to S$1.4797 and the rupiah fell 4.4 percent to 9,860.
Eight of Asia’s 10 most-active currencies outside of Japan posted weekly declines.
South Korea’s won had its biggest jump since March 1998 on Friday after a meeting among financial regulators prompted speculation that the government will step up support for the currency.
The won rose 5.4 percent to 1,309 versus the US dollar, paring this week’s decline to 6.5 percent, Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd said. The currency climbed as high as 1,225, after earlier dropping as low as 1,460.
Malaysia’s ringgit fell 1.2 percent this week to 3.5125 per US dollar and touched a one-year low of 3.5171.
The New Taiwan dollar declined 0.8 percent this week to NT$32.437.
Elsewhere, the Thai baht dropped 0.4 percent to 34.33 per dollar and the Philippine peso dropped 1.3 percent to 47.670. China’s yuan gained 0.2 percent to 6.8357 and Vietnam’s dong was little changed at 16,590.
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