Stock Market Watch

Forex Market Update: Syria Concerns Pushes Dollar Index Up

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The dollar index rose sharply on Wednesday as investors continued to flee equity markets and sought safety in the U.S. dollar as U.S. gears up for a possible missile strikes against Syria.

At last check, the Dollar Index, a measure on greenback’s performance against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.27% to 81.39.

Meanwhile, gold futures continued to head northwards and Brent Crude Oil prices hit a six-month high at $115 a barrel as jittery investors fear possible escalation in geopolitical tensions in the middle-east, should U.S. military starts its military action.

Sources familiar with the latest developments said to NBC News that the U.S. could launch missile strikes against Syria as early as Thursday.

The U.S. dollar also bounced back from its two-week trough against the Japanese currency on Wednesday.

The yen came under pressure on Wednesday after Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) Deputy Governor; Kikuo Iwata said that the central bank will continue to keep its monetary policy accommodative until inflation stabilizes at 2%.

Against the yen the dollar was last up 0.49% to trade at 97.51 yen.

The Swiss Franc also edged lower against the dollar.

Both Swiss Franc and yen are considered as highly liquid and safe currencies in the times of macroeconomic uncertainty.

“The yen and Swiss franc have been supported on safe-haven demand given the developments in Syria, but I think we are now increasingly going to see the dollar taking on the dominant roleamong the safe-haven currencies and gaining broadly, even against the yen and the Swiss franc,” said Ian Stannard, head of European FX strategy at Morgan Stanley, according to Reuters.

 

 

 








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edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.

Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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