Dollar Gains Most Since 1992

Dollar Gains Most Since 1992 on Concern Global Slump Deepening 

By Ye Xie

The dollar gained the most in 16 years against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners as a global economic slowdown spurred demand for the greenback as a haven from losses in emerging markets.

"The foreign-exchange market is basically saying we are in a global recession and perhaps a very, very deep one,'' Richard Franulovich, a senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in New York, said in an interview on Bloomberg Radio. "Any sense of rationality and fundamentals is thrown out the window.''

Japan's yen also benefited as investors fled high-risk assets and used the proceeds to pay back low-cost loans taken out in the currency. The yen climbed to a 13-year high against the dollar this week and surged to its strongest level against the euro in six years. The pound fell below $1.53 in its biggest weekly drop since investor George Soros drove sterling out of Europe's system of linked exchange rates in 1992.

The dollar appreciated 6 percent to $1.2623 per euro this week, from $1.3410 on Oct. 17. The currency touched $1.2497 per euro yesterday, the strongest since October 2006. The yen rallied 7.8 percent to 94.32 per dollar from 101.69, and touched 90.93 yesterday, its highest level since August 1995. Against the euro, the yen climbed 12.7 percent to 118.96 from 136.21. It touched 113.81 yesterday, the strongest since May 2002.

This week's decline in the euro was its biggest against the dollar and the yen since the 15-nation currency's inception in January 1999. The yen's gain versus the dollar was the biggest since October 1998.

Dollar Index

ICE Futures' Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against the euro, the yen, the pound, the Canadian dollar, the Swiss franc and the Swedish krona, rose 4.9 percent this week, the most since September 1992. It touched 86.97 yesterday, the highest level since October 2006.

"We are in a financial crisis,'' said Richard Clarida, a global strategist at Newport Beach, California-based Pacific Investment Management Co., which oversees $830 billion in assets, including the world's biggest bond fund.  "The flight to quality is boosting the dollar and the yen.''

Emerging-market currencies tumbled as Argentina seized private pension funds, and Belarus, Ukraine, Hungary and Iceland joined Pakistan in requesting at least $20 billion of emergency loans from the International Monetary Fund. Brazil's real dropped 8.2 percent to 2.3075 against the dollar, the South African rand decreased 10.4 percent to 11.18 and the Russian ruble fell 3.2 percent to 27.1991. ***