Euro Still High as Dollar Slumps

USD Hits Rough Path

                The US currency exchange rate has fallen to the lowest point in almost two years on Thursday. In the afternoon trading the index measuring USD performance against other major currencies was down 0.3% to 94.725. Before, during the day it touched the lowest point since September 2018. Generally since March 20 when it hit its peak with high demand for dollar, the index lost 8%. For the whole week the index is down 1.3% and is well on track for a fifth week in a row of loses. USD exchange rate versus safe-have currencies, like the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc, was also not good – versus CHF it fell 0.46% to 0.9252 francs, after earlier touching the lowest point in more than four months, whereas versus JPY it fell 0.37% to 106.75 yen.

What Made USD Price Go Down?

                Investors decided to sell USD as surge in cases in US means the economy will have it hard to recover or outperform other economies. Additionally last week there was a rise in US jobless claims, a first one in four months, which added pressure to the exchange rate of USD. Labour market in US is still far from recovery, as coronavirus cases topped 4 million on Thursday. Every hour there are on average new 2,600 cases in the US, which is the highest score worldwide. The USD manage to briefly gain momentum when the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated that the US government will try to protect the stability of the currency, as White House officials and US Senate Republican leaders continue to work on a proposal of aid package to help the economy. But the recovery of USD exchange rate was short-lived, and at the end of the day it posted loses on many fronts. Accruing to experts there is still room for more radical moves in all G10 currencies, as speculators underweight them.

Euro Hits Another Record Level

                Contrary to the US, the euro was in great shape on Thursday, as it continued to break another record. Its exchange rate versus dollar hit the highest point since October 2018 after it has managed break the technically important threshold of 1.16 dollars on Wednesday. EUR was well on track to be up against USD for a fifth day in a row with price up 0.35% to 1.1609 dollars. Earlier on Wednesday it managed to hit 1.1601 point, a 21-month high. The common currency was still under the influence of the agreement on recovery fund to the European Union economy made on EU summit last weekend. Optimistic investors continue to buy euros.

Other Currencies

                In other news from currencies market, the Australian dollar was down 0.46% against USD, at 0.7107, as it went back from a 15-month peak hit previously. The New Zealand dollar also fell versus USD by 0.41% to 0.6636, bellow the six-month high of 0.6678 dollars recorded on Wednesday.