The euro has suffered a relapse of the fears of the economy

Forex News

The euro fell sharply against the dollar Thursday, traders seeking refuge in the values ​​considered most reliable, the bi ...

The euro fell sharply against the dollar Thursday, traders seeking refuge in values ​​that are the safest, with the greenback in the face of growing fears of a serious relapse of the global economy.

Around 1800 GMT (8:00 p.m. in Paris), the euro bought 1.4315 dollars against 1.4428 dollars at 2100 GMT Wednesday.

The euro fell against the yen at 109.52 yen against 110.45 yen yesterday.

The dollar stabilized against the Japanese currency to 76.50 yen against 76.54 yen Wednesday.

"The gauge of investor sentiment is allocated towards risk aversion. The euro currency is considered risky because the debt crisis has still not been resolved and he loses the ground," explained Samarjit Shankar, of BNY Mellon.

Faced with the rout of stock markets, investors are reported to the massive asset providing maximum security, including U.S. public debt, which requires the purchase to bring greenbacks.

"Protection against risk is the dominant theme: the weakening of economic confidence and market pressures continue to support the demand for safe haven," analysts have estimated the Brown Brothers Harriman, citing the U.S. dollar.

The U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley has fueled the nervousness of stock markets, lowering its forecast for global growth for 2011 and 2012 and holding the United States and the euro area "dangerously close to recession".

A series of indicators published in the United States has blackened the table, causing a panic on the stock exchanges. They showed a relapse of home resales in July and an increase in jobless claims last week.

Even more disturbing, the index of the central bank measuring manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area (Northeast) has collapsed to $ -30.7 in August, its lowest level since last March 2009, when the U.S. was still in recession.

"Obviously, the markets are living in fear, and figures like that give them reason to panic," commented analyst at ING.

The foreign exchange market has also caught the sharp increase in consumer prices in July by 0.5% over the month and 3.6% year on year. The figures "suggest that the central bank (Fed) has little room to maneuver" to adopt new stimulus measures, which tend to depress the value of the greenback, has pointed Shankar.

The yen, Swiss franc and gold have also benefited from their safe haven status, gold reaching a new record of more than 1825 dollars an ounce.

By 1800 GMT, the Swiss franc rose against the euro at 1.1337 Swiss francs, but fell against the dollar at 0.7917 francs after a brief back up.

The British pound rose against the euro at 86.86 pence, but fell against the dollar at 1.6475 dollar.

The Chinese currency finished at 6.3883 yuan against one dollar for 6.3872 yuan yesterday.