Swissie, Japanese yen upside capped by intervention fears
By William L. Watts and Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar gained ground versus major rivals Thursday, finding support on safe-haven flows as global equity markets and commodities sank in response to growth fears.
The dollar index DXY +0.39% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, traded at 74.022 on Thursday, up from 73.697 in late North American trading on Wednesday.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a sharply lower start for Wall Street, while European and Asian equities also sank on worries about global growth. While the Japanese yen and Swiss franc typically outperform the dollar when investors turn risk averse, fears of intervention by authorities in both countries served to limit their room for gains, strategists said.
The dollar USDJPY -0.02% bought 76.59 Japanese yen, compared to 76.50 yen in late trading Wednesday. The dollar rose to 79.63 centimes versus the Swiss franc USDCHF +0.49% , up from 78.89 centimes on Wednesday.
“Fear of imminent intervention in both dollar/yen and euro/Swiss franc is trapping both in ranges and leaves the dollar the net winner against all of the other majors,” said Adam Cole, global head of foreign-exchange strategy at RBC Capital Markets in London.
The euro traded at 1.1447 Swiss francs EURCHF +0.14% , up from 1.1400 on Wednesday. The Swiss National Bank on Wednesday announced additional steps to attempt to arrest the Swiss franc’s rise, while the nation’s government said it would provide aid designed to alleviate the impact of the currency strength on the economy. Read more about the SNB and the Swiss government.
The euro EURUSD -0.37% traded at $1.4368 versus the dollar, down from $1.4447 on Wednesday.
The British pound GBPUSD -0.32% traded at $1.6485, down from $1.6564 late the previous day.
