Dollar mixed as investors pause

By Ben Rooney, staff reporter


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The dollar fell against the Japanese yen Friday, but continued to strengthen versus the euro, as investors shied away from risk amid ongoing concerns about the global economy.

What prices are doing: The dollar was down 0.4% versus the yen to ¥90.05 and fell 0.5% against the U.K. pound to $1.6119. But the dollar rose 0.3% versus the euro to $1.4123.

dollar.jpg.mkw.gif
Click the chart for current FX rates.

What's moving the market: Traders turned to the dollar and the yen, both considered safe havens, as global stocks fell and U.S. markets were set to open lower.

Wall Street suffered its worst day in months Thursday following the Obama administration's proposal to increase regulation on the nation's biggest financial firms.

The selloff spread to overseas markets. Japan's Nikkei closed 2.5% lower and markets in Europe trading down about 1% in active trading.

But the euro received some support as rumors circulated that a positive announcement on Greece was due over the weekend, according to Boris Schlossberg, director of currency research at trading firm GFT.

"There were no details so far, but the head of Greek debt agency revealed that 5-10 year bonds will be sold in February through syndication, putting to rest the speculation that Greece will avoid public markets by doing a private placement," Schlossberg wrote in a research report.

Concerns about the Greek economy had weighed on the euro in recent sessions as traders worried that the country's debt woes could signal more economic pain in Europe.

Meanwhile, the market continues to grapple with signs that China's central bank could move to tighten monetary policy to help cool the country's robust economic growth.

What analysts are saying. "The threat of Chinese rate hike as early as this month remains the more immediate risk to global risk appetite," Ashraf Laidi, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in London, wrote in a note to clients.

Laidi said the stock market's reaction to Thursday's announcement concerning U.S. bank regulation may have been overdone. But he added that the proposed regulations could hurt U.S. banks' profitability and eventually weigh on the dollar.

"The story could become U.S. dollar-negative as long it remains a U.S.-specific issue," Laidi said.  To top of page

Just the hot list include
Frontline troops push for solar energy
The U.S. Marines are testing renewable energy technologies like solar to reduce costs and casualties associated with fossil fuels. Play
25 Best Places to find rich singles
Looking for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags? Hunt down the perfect mate in these wealthy cities, which are brimming with unattached professionals. More
Fun festivals: Twins to mustard to pirates!
You'll see double in Twinsburg, Ohio, and Ketchup lovers should beware in Middleton, WI. Here's some of the best and strangest town festivals. Play
Overnight Avg Rate Latest Change Last Week
30 yr fixed3.80%3.88%
15 yr fixed3.20%3.23%
5/1 ARM3.84%3.88%
30 yr refi3.82%3.93%
15 yr refi3.20%3.23%
Rate data provided
by Bankrate.com
View rates in your area
 
Find personalized rates:
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 32,627.97 -234.33 -0.71%
Nasdaq 13,215.24 99.07 0.76%
S&P 500 3,913.10 -2.36 -0.06%
Treasuries 1.73 0.00 0.12%
Data as of 6:29am ET
Company Price Change % Change
Ford Motor Co 8.29 0.05 0.61%
Advanced Micro Devic... 54.59 0.70 1.30%
Cisco Systems Inc 47.49 -2.44 -4.89%
General Electric Co 13.00 -0.16 -1.22%
Kraft Heinz Co 27.84 -2.20 -7.32%
Data as of 2:44pm ET

Sections

Bankrupt toy retailer tells bankruptcy court it is looking at possibly reviving the Toys 'R' Us and Babies 'R' Us brands. More

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford charts her career path, from her first job to becoming the first openly gay CEO at a Fortune 500 company in an interview with CNN's Boss Files. 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.