Dollar rallies after Euro rate cuts

Central bankers in Europe slash rates but grim economic outlook weighs on the currency market.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer

v2-cnnmoney-chart4.mkw.jpg
Click chart for current foreign exchange rates.
What should be President-elect Obama's first economic priority?
  • Creating jobs
  • Solving the Wall St. crisis
  • Cutting taxes
  • Reducing spending

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The dollar rose against the euro and the pound Thursday after monetary policy makers in Europe cut interest rates in response to growing economic weakness.

In a widely expected move, the European Central Bank lowered its benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 3.25%. But the Bank of England surprised investors by slashing its key rate a full 1.5 percentage points to 3%.

The British pound slid 2 cents after the Bank of England announced the larger-than-expected rate cut. It recovered immediately, jumping 3 cents, but fell late in the day to $1.5753, down 1.3% from late Wednesday.

The euro slid after the ECB rate cut. It then briefly traded higher before resuming its decline to trade at $1.2735, down 2% from the previous day.

Central bankers in Switzerland also cut rates. The Swiss National Bank lowered its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 2%, citing a worse-than-expected growth outlook.

The dollar traded at 1.1762 Swiss francs, up from 1.1627 Swiss francs.

"The aggressive rate cuts out of Europe today are encouraging, but may have come too late to avert a prolonged global economic deceleration," said Steve Malyon, currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Toronto.

Despite the rate cuts and improving credit conditions, global stock prices fell as negative economic reports and weak corporate results exacerbated recession fears.

U.S. stocks fell for a second day in a row. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 4.75% at midday.

Asian markets closed between 6% and 9% lower. In Europe, major indexes were down about 6%.

Currency traders look to the stock market for cues on the global economic outlook. When stocks fall, low-yielding currencies such as the dollar and the yen often rise as investors shy away from higher yielding assets that are more risky.

Against the Japanese yen, the euro bought ¥124.33, down from ¥127.13. The dollar traded at ¥97.82, down from ¥98.19. To top of page

Track 17 major currencies

Features
They're hiring!These Fortune 100 employers have at least 350 openings each. What are they looking for in a new hire? More
If the Fortune 500 were a country...It would be the world's second-biggest economy. See how big companies' sales stack up against GDP over the past decade. More
Sponsored By:
More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.