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Dollar Trades Near Five-Month Low Before U.S. Housing, Sentiment Reports
The dollar traded at almost a five- month low against the euro after U.S. home prices rose at a slower pace in July, fueling speculation the Federal Reserve will ease monetary policy.
The greenback was mixed against 16 most-traded counterparts as U.S. economic reports were expected to increase the likelihood the central bank will restart the purchase of government debt. The yen strengthened against the dollar to the strongest level since Japan intervened in the market Sept. 15 to weaken the currency.
“The market is looking for the high-frequency growth data to help predict the path that lies ahead for the Fed,” said Camilla Sutton, a Bank of Nova Scotia currency strategist in Toronto. “Consumer confidence by any measure is still historically very low.”
The dollar fell 0.3 percent to $1.3489 per euro at 9:11 a.m. in New York, compared with $1.3455 yesterday, when it slid to $1.3507, the weakest level since April 20. The euro bought 113.44 yen, compared with 113.41 yen, after touching 112.67 yen.
The yen strengthened 0.2 percent to 84.09 yen per dollar, from 84.29, the highest level since Sept. 15, when it also touched a 15-year low of 82.88.
Japan sold its currency in an attempt to sustain an export- led recovery. Demand for the yen has been tempered by speculation Japan will sell its currency again.
Housing Prices
Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose at a slower pace in July from a year earlier, reflecting a drop in sales following the end of a government tax credit.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 3.2 percent from July 2009, the smallest year-over-year gain since March, the group said today in New York.
The Conference Board’s U.S. consumer confidence index decreased to 52.1 this month from 53.5 in August, according to another survey. The report from the New York-based research group is scheduled for release at 10 a.m. in New York.
The dollar has depreciated 9.1 percent versus the euro this quarter in the worst performance among the European currency’s 16 major counterparts. The greenback has pared this year’s advance to 6.3 percent.
The euro erased its loss against the franc as European stocks reversed their losses. Investors traditionally buy the franc during times of economic turmoil because of the perceived stability of the Swiss economy and current account surplus, and offload the currency when they want to take on more risk.
The franc weakened 0.2 percent to 1.3286 per euro from 1.3258 yesterday.
“The concern in the euro zone in terms of the debt issues there, they’re a bit more simmering rather than blazing, where they were in the spring,” Robert Sinche, global head of foreign exchange strategy at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s RBS Securities unit in Stamford, Connecticut, said in a radio interview today on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene. “It’s a reminder that the issues there, although not front page every day, still haven’t gone away.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Allison Bennett in New York at abennett23@bloomberg.net; Catarina Saraiva in New York at asaraiva5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net
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