US dollar hurt by retail sales report, bank results

Story link: US dollar hurt by retail sales report, bank results

The US dollar weakened in relation to the yen, the Swiss franc and the pound on Tuesday on reports that retail sales fell in December and that Citigroup (NYSE: C) lost $9.83 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Not helping matters was a statement from former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan in a published interview to the effect that if the US economy is not already in a recession, it will be soon.

Mr. Greenspan has been warning about a possible recession in the US since at least February 2007.

The greenback was at its lowest level versus the yen since 2005 as it dropped to ¥106.85 to the dollar in morning trade in New York, but by just past 1 p.m. it had retreated to ¥107.1500, still better than Monday’s ¥108.16.

At the same time, the yen traded at ¥159.1016 to the euro and at ¥210.7916 to the pound, and was up against all major currencies.

The dollar touched a new all-time low versus the Swiss franc when the franc traded at SFr1.0856 to the dollar; in early afternoon trade in New York it traded at SFr1.0914 to the US currency.

The pound had its biggest one-day gain in relation to the US dollar in a month and strengthened versus the euro as UK inflation was above the 2 percent target set by the Bank of England again.

In late afternoon trade in London, it took $1.9684 to buy a pound, while by early afternoon in New York the dollar traded at $1.9673 to the pound.

In addition, the pound traded at 75.48p to the euro in New York after trading at 75.37p to the shared currency earlier.