US dollar index is lower today, heading down on risk appetite. A Greek debt deal is helping the situation, and Forex traders and investors in various financial markets are feeling better about taking a few more risks in order to invest in higher yielding assets.
Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank confirmed earlier that Greek policymakers, led by Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, have agreed to an austerity package. The news jolted the euro higher; the EUR/USD currency pair has topped 1.3300.
Other news is also contributing to dollar weakness today. Great Britain has continued its efforts at quantitative easing by announcing that it will pump another 50 billion pounds into the UK economy. US dollar is lower against the sterling.
Additionally, risk appetite is being helped along by the news out of the United States. US unemployment claims dropped by 15,000 to 358,000 in the week that ended February 4, 2012. The news has some hoping that a US economic recovery could be under way. With better news around the world, it is little surprise that the Forex market is seeing risk appetite, and the US dollar is lower without the need for safe haven.
At 15:13 GMT EUR/USD is higher at 1.3306, up from the open at 1.3261. GBP/USD is higher at 1.5846, up from the open at 1.5819. USD/CAD is lower at 0.9943, down from the open at 0.9959.
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