Dollar Falls to Record Versus Euro; Credit Woes May Damp Growth

Agnes Lovasz and Kosuke Goto
Bloomberg
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The dollar declined to a record against the euro on speculation Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will say credit- market losses are hurting U.S. economic growth.

The currency also declined to a 25-year low versus the Australian dollar on concern confidence in the debt of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will deteriorate even after the U.S. government pledged support for the two-largest buyers of home loans. The yen rose after the Bank of Japan kept interest rates at 0.5 percent today, the lowest among major economies.

“The markets are reacting negatively to the renewed credit crisis in the U.S. and that’s hurting the dollar across the board,” said Roberto Mialich, a Milan-based currency strategist at Unicredit Markets & Investment Banking, a unit of Italy’s largest lender. “The market is speculating that Bernanke will offer a gloomy outlook for the U.S. economy.”

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The dollar declined to $1.6038 per euro, the lowest since the euro’s inception in 1999, and was at $1.6027 as of 10:21 a.m. in London, from $1.5908 in New York yesterday. The U.S. currency also dropped to 104.97 yen, from 106.14 yen yesterday. The yen traded at 168.26 per euro, from 168.89 yesterday, when it fell to 169.75, the lowest since the single currency debuted in 1999.

The dollar may fall to between $1.62 and $1.63 in the coming month, Mialich said.

Against Australia’s currency, the dollar weakened to 98.27 cents, the lowest level since 1983, from 97.18 cents yesterday.

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