By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar strengthened on Monday in Asian trading hours, extending gains made last week amid intensifying fears about Europe’s ability to handle its ongoing sovereign-debt crisis.
The dollar index DXY +0.64% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded at 77.344 on Monday, up from 77.175 in late North American trading on Friday.
The U.S. currency is regarded as a relative safe-haven asset, as is gold and the Japanese yen. The dollar USDJPY -0.53% bought 77.49 yen on Monday, almost flat from ¥77.48 late Friday.
Investors became increasingly anxious about Europe’s debt problems last week, when top European Central Bank official Juergen Stark resigned for “personal reasons,” although news reports tied his departure to disagreements over the bank’s bond-buying program. Read more on Stark resignation.
The euro EURUSD -0.46% fell back to $1.3588 on Monday, from $1.3659 in late North American trading, while British pound GBPUSD -0.08% traded at $1.5858, down from $1.5877.
Sarah Turner is MarketWatch's bureau chief in Sydney.
