ZW: US dollar advances in Asia on debt contagion fears
SINGAPORE, Nov 23, 2010 (AFP) - The US dollar rose against euro in Asian trade Tuesday as investors continued to fret about the eurozone debt woes, analysts said.
The euro sank to 1.3575 US dollars at 0150 GMT from 1.3622 dollars late Monday, with a unit of the greenback buying 83.35 yen from 83.29 yen.
Fears of debt contagion within Europe was pulling its currency down, said David Forrester, currency strategist at Barclays Capital in Singapore.
"It is currently about the euro area sovereign debt concerns," he told AFP, adding that Ireland was not the only country within the eurozone that was straddled with debt.
"You've got Portuguese and Spanish CDS (credit default swaps) heading higher so the risk of contagion is there," Forrester said.
The European Union and International Monetary Fund on Sunday agreed to bail out Ireland, with sources putting the cost at up to 90 billion euros (123 billion dollars).
On Monday, the euro jumped as high as 1.3786 dollars before falling to 1.3615 dollars as optimism over Ireland switched to fears of contagion.
