BLBG:Dollar Maintains Losses Against Major Counterparts Before Confidence Data
The dollar maintained (DXY) losses from last week against most of its major counterparts on speculation a report tomorrow will show U.S. consumer confidence rose to the highest since July, damping demand for haven assets.
The euro held a drop against the yen before Italy auctions as much as 20 billion euros ($26.1 billion) of bills and bonds this week amid concern the region’s debt crisis is worsening. The Australian and New Zealand dollars traded within 0.6 percent of two-week highs on prospects Asian stocks will rise.
“The U.S. economy is resilient,” said Kengo Suzuki, manager of the foreign-bond department in Tokyo at Mizuho Securities Co., a unit of Japan’s third-biggest listed bank by market value. “Excessive pessimism has receded at the end of the year, and what we’re seeing is some unwinding of safe-haven buying of currencies like the dollar and yen.”
The dollar was little changed at $1.3041 per euro and 78.09 yen at 8:55 a.m. in Tokyo from last week. The euro traded at 101.83 yen from 101.86 on Dec. 23, when it dropped 0.2 percent.
The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners including the euro, yen and pound, fell 0.2 percent last week.
Shares in Asia may advance after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.9 percent and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.8 percent on Dec. 23.
Consumer Confidence
An index of consumer confidence in the U.S. rose to 58.6 this month from 56 in November, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The New York-based Conference Board will report the figures.
Home prices in 20 U.S. cities probably declined at a slower pace in October. Property values dropped 3.2 percent from the same month in 2010, the smallest year-over-year decrease since January, according to a separate Bloomberg survey before S&P/Case-Shiller releases the data tomorrow.
Italy will sell 9 billion euros of 179-day bills and as much as 2.5 billion euros of zero 2013 bonds on Dec. 28. It will auction on Dec. 29 bonds due in 2014, 2018, 2021 and 2022.
“Bad results at Italy’s auctions may put the euro under selling pressure,” said Mizuho’s Suzuki. “We’re likely to see tension heightening in Europe during the first quarter and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the euro falls to $1.20.”
The Australian dollar was little changed at $1.0149. It touched $1.0219 on Dec. 21, the highest since Dec. 12. New Zealand’s dollar was at 77.42 U.S. cents from 77.44 on Dec. 23. It reached 77.76 on Dec. 21, the most since Dec. 8.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mariko Ishikawa in Tokyo at mishikawa9@bloomberg.net; Monami Yui in Tokyo at myui1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Rocky Swift at rswift5@bloomberg.net
