The US dollar fell against some currencies, including the euro and the pound, but rose against others, including the yen, today. The US currency ended the month as the best performer, supported by fears of global economic slowdown.
The Dollar Index jumped as much as 3.5 percent in February. The dollar outperformed other assets, especially commodities — the Standard & Poorâs GSCI Index slumped 4.4 percent, posting the biggest drop since May. The greenback remained attractive even amid concerns about the automatic budget cuts that could hurt the US economy.
Yesterday’s macroeconomic data supported the appeal of the greenback. The US economy grew 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. The reading was better that the previous estimate (decline by 0.1 percent). Meanwhile, the data from Europe was worse than expected, boosting the attractiveness of the dollar as a safe investment.
EUR/USD ticked up from 1.3055 to 1.3075 and GBP/USD rose from 1.5160 to 1.5172 as of 3:17 GMT today. At the same time, USD/JPY went up from 92.54 to 92.63.
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