The dollar declined from a more of a decade high after U.S. durable goods orders unexpected decreased sharply 3.4% (+0.3% exp.) in December for a fourth month and Federal Reserve policy makers began a two day meeting. The US currency fell yesterday against most of the major currencies as worse than expected corporate results, such as Caterpillar In. and Microsoft Corp., suggested that a slowing global economy might be affecting on U.S. growth. Analysts are betting on an October increase in interest rates by Fed. On the other hand, euro rose against CHF after a Swiss National Bank official said it remained ready to intervene in markets. The franc had traded near parity against the euro since the SNB announced on Jan. 15 its decision of abandoning its cap of 1.20 franc per euro which pushed the Swiss currency as much as 41% higher against the euro to the strongest level on record. Russia’s ruble bounced from a record low close Monday, when it plunged after Standard & Poor’s lowered Russia’s credit rating to junk for the first time in a decade. The sink of the price of Crude Oil in the markets is harming deeply the Russian economy, very dependent of this energy source, as one of the main world suppliers. The dollar fell 1.3% to $1.1381 against the euro after gaining to $1.1098 the previous day, the strongest since September 2003, which reflects the different stage both economies are at the moment. China’s yuan rose by the most in four weeks as the central bank strengthened the reference rate after the currency’s biggest two-day slide since 2.008.
Read the full report: FX Daily