FOREX-Dollar bolstered by oil, stocks; yen suffers

Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:56am EDT
 
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* Dollar gains broadly, risk appetite improves

* Greenback supported by Fed rhetoric, falling oil price

* Euro hits record high at 169.98 yen EURJPY=

(Changes byline, updates prices, adds quotes)

By Toni Vorobyova

LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - The dollar hit a one-month peak against the yen and a two-week high versus the euro on Wednesday, buoyed by a sharp slide in oil prices, a recovery in stocks and hawkish rhetoric from U.S. officials.

With oil more than $20 below this month's record peaks CLc1 and world stocks on a six-day winning streak for the first time in two months .MIWD00000PUS, the improved risk appetite pushed the low-yielding, safe-haven yen to a record low against the euro as investors sought higher returns elsewhere.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser, a known hawk, said on Tuesday that rising inflation could force the Fed to start raising interest rates even before labour and financial markets recover, giving the dollar a boost.

The dollar got more support after U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Tuesday that a strong U.S. currency is "really very important".

"The dollar has come back from the brink again. Oil prices helped, some of the news from the U.S. financial sector is coming out as bad as thought, and with equities rebounding that's playing into the dollar's hands," said Martin McMahon, FX strategist at Credit Suisse in Zurich.

"Comments from Plosser and Paulson too... were moderately dollar positive. But we don't see this as a start of a change for the trend in the dollar just yet -- the problems of the U.S. economy are still there and it's not clear whether this is a definitive oil price correction anyway," he added.

By 1037 GMT the dollar had reached its highest in a month at 107.89 yen JPY=. The euro had fallen as low as $1.5719 EUR=, its weakest in a fortnight and more than three U.S. cents below last week's record highs.

Adding to the euro's downside was data showing euro zone new orders falling at their fastest monthly pace in 6-1/2 years.

Reflecting improved risk appetite, the dollar rose to a one-month high of 1.0365 safe-haven Swiss francs CHF=, while the euro scaled a two month peak at 1.6305 francs EURCHF=.

The euro rose to a record high 169.98 yen EURJPY= according to Reuters data before pulling back to 169.67 yen.  Continued...

 
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