FX:Dollar broadly higher on euro zone, global growth concerns
Forexpros - The U.S. dollar was higher against almost all of its major counterparts on Monday, as concerns over the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone and the downbeat outlook for global growth saw investors favor the relative safety of the greenback.
During European morning trade, the dollar was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD down 0.58% to hit 1.2496.
Concerns that the debt crisis in Europe is creating a drag on global growth weighed, following a string of data late last week which pointed to weak U.S. manufacturing activity, a shrinking Chinese manufacturing sector and slowing business activity across the single currency bloc.
Investors also remained cautious ahead of a European Union summit due to begin later in the week, amid growing doubts over whether leaders will make any progress towards greater fiscal integration and allowing the bloc's rescue funds to buy government debt.
The greenback was also up against the pound, with GBP/USD sliding 0.18% to hit 1.5556.
Speculation over the possibility of more easing from the Bank of England continued after BoE policymaker David Miles said earlier that a "substantial" amount of monetary stimulus was needed to shore-up growth in Britain's "stalled" economy.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Miles reiterated his support for a GBP50 billion expansion of the central bank’s asset purchase program.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the traditional safe haven yen, with USD/JPY shedding 0.40% to hit 80.11, but pushed higher against the Swiss franc with USD/CHF rising 0.58% to hit 0.9608.
The greenback strengthened against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD adding 0.21% to hit 1.0267, AUD/USD losing 0.49% to hit 1.0014 and NZD/USD falling 0.39% to hit 0.7872.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.38%, to hit a two-week high of 82.72.
Spain's government was expected to make a formal request for aid for its banking sector later in the day, after reports on Thursday indicated that Madrid would need a rescue package of as much as EUR62 billion.
In addition, the U.S. was to release official data on new home sales.
