NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
The dollar shrugged off strong economic numbers and instead reached new record lows on high deficits.
Bonds took the numbers on the chin and barely moved.
The euro bought $1.3352 late Wednesday in New York, a new high, up from 1.3288 late Tuesday. The dollar bought ¥102.57, down from ¥102.96 late Tuesday, holding above a 4-1/2 year low of ¥102.12 reached last week.
The greenback made a brief rally after the Institute for Supply Management's main activity index rose to 57.8 in November from 56.8 the month before. Analysts had expected a rise to 57.0.
But selling in the dollar quickly resumed, driven by familiar concerns about the U.S. current account gap and speculation that Washington wants a weaker dollar.
Remarks by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet Tuesday suggesting the bank was unlikely to intervene in favor of the dollar also pressured the U.S. currency.
"Forces driving the dollar are still the same, concerns about the current account deficit. A rise in sterling, triggered by strong UK data, is also contributing to dollar weakness," Niels Christensen, senior currency strategist at Societe Generale in Paris, told Reuters.
"Sentiment against the dollar is deep-rooted. Every time we have a pullback in euro/dollar new buyers emerge."
The greenback has fallen to nine-year lows against several currencies as markets predict overseas governments will not intervene in the dollar's decline, and speculation has been rife that some central banks may diversify their reserves out of U.S. dollars and assets.
Treasuries were relatively unchanged despite the manufacturing report.
The 10-year note dipped 2/32 of a point to 99-3/32 to yield 4.36 percent, up from 4.34 late Tuesday. The 30-year bond lost 3/32 of a point to 105-6/32 to yield 5.01 percent, up from 5.00 Tuesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The two-year note remained flat to yield 3.01 percent, as did the five-year note, yielding 3.26 percent.
|