Dollar and Yen Serve As Investors' Haven
The euro and other higher-yielding currencies slumped against the dollar and Japanese yen Thursday as riskier assets fell out of favor on investor concerns about the slow pace at which the world economy is recovering from recession.</br></br>"We've got a global recovery under way, but people are beginning to question it, and that's taken them out of the euro and back into the dollar and yen," said Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers in Greenwich, Conn.</br></br>Slumping stock and commodity prices pushed investors back into the U.S. and Japanese currencies. Indications from around the globe of a more restrictive official stance toward capital flows and currency volatility also contributed to a more cautious investment environment. Worries about the global economy tend to favor the dollar and the yen, and erode demand for assets sensitive to economic growth, including stocks and so-called commodity currencies.</br></br>Late in New York, the euro was at $1.4919 from $1.4960 late Wednesday. The dollar was at 89.08 yen from 89.378, while the euro was at 132.90 yen from 133.69 yen. The U.K. pound was at $1.6659 from $1.6740. The dollar was at 1.0134 Swiss francs from 1.0101 francs. The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback's moves against a trade-weighted basket of six currencies, was at 75.264 from 75.079.</br></br>Meanwhile, the dollar got another show of support Thursday from Saudi Arabia. The International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights can't replace the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency, the governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Muhammad Al-Jasser, said in Frankfurt.