The US dollar fell on Tuesday to its lowest level in nearly a year against a basket of currencies as gains in global stock markets reduced the greenback's appeal as a safe haven. Risk appetite improved and the euro climbed to a fresh 2009 high above $1.4680 as Wall Street stock indexes advanced following surprisingly strong US retail sales data. European shares and oil prices also rose amid recovery hopes.
"The equity markets are doing better, which is driving people into more risky trades," said John McCarthy, director of foreign exchange trading at ING Capital Markets in New York. "A firmer Dow has generally undermined the dollar." Traders have sold the US currency heavily so far this month as optimism about a global economic recovery diminished safe-haven demand. The prospect of low US yields and concerns about the widening US fiscal deficit fuelled dollar selling.
In late New York trading, the ICE Futures US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.3 percent to 76.472, after sliding to 76.407, its lowest since late September 2008. The euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.4673, after touching a session high of $1.4686, the best level since December, according to Reuters data. The dollar was up 0.1 percent at 91.03 yen, pulling away from a seven-month low hit on Monday.
Sales at US retailers rose at their fastest pace in three-and-half years in August as government-sponsored auto incentives buoyed demand for motor vehicles, according to data on Tuesday that also showed strong sales outside the auto sector.
"There is no question of this being positive data, even though the cash-for-clunkers program was a huge part of it," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at BNY Mellon in New York. The dollar had risen earlier in the session after the retail sales data bolstered expectations the United States will be at the forefront of a global economic recovery. That would help push up US rates and make the dollar more attractive compared with other currencies.
In other trading, sterling dropped after Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said the central bank was looking at reducing the rate on commercial banks' reserves, fuelling speculation of further quantitative easing. Sterling was last down 0.4 percent against the dollar at $1.6498 and off 0.8 percent versus the euro at 88.92 pence.
Improving risk appetite and a 3 percent jump in oil lifted commodity currencies. The Australian dollar rose 0.3 percent, erasing losses made after minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's last policy meeting gave little guidance on when the cash rate would be raised. The New Zealand dollar gained 0.7 percent and the Canadian dollar was up 1.1 percent against the US currency.
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