BLBG:Dollar Rises to Eight-Week High Versus Euro Before U.S. Election
The dollar rose to an eight-week high versus the euro before U.S. voters head to the polls today to decide whether President Barack Obama or challenger Mitt Romney will guide the world’s biggest economy for the next four years.
The U.S. currency held a three-day gain versus the 17- nation currency on speculation whoever wins the election will press ahead with resolving the so-called fiscal cliff of federal spending cuts and tax increases. Australia’s dollar appreciated against all its major peers after the central bank unexpectedly refrained from cutting interest rates today.
“It all depends who wins,” said Sonja Marten, a currency strategist at DZ Bank AG in Frankfurt. “If Obama wins, that’s going to be taken as a positive sign” for the dollar, she said
The dollar was little changed at $1.2794 at 10:51 a.m. London time after advancing to $1.2764, the strongest since Sept. 11. The U.S. currency fell 0.1 percent to 80.24 yen. The yen was little changed at 102.70 per euro.
The Dollar Index (DXY), which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the U.S. currency against those of six major trading partners, declined 0.1 percent to 80.688.
Australia’s dollar advanced 0.7 percent to $1.0439 after rising to $1.0442, the strongest since Sept. 28.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net
