El dolar cae por la preocupacion de la desaceleracion de la economia.
Dollar Weakens Amid Falling Yields and Rising Growth Fears
WSJ Dollar Index falls to lowest level in a month
By CAROLYN CUI and IRA IOSEBASHVILI
Updated Feb. 3, 2016 1:28 p.m. ET
Global currency markets ran into turbulence on Wednesday, as investors dumped the dollar amid falling interest rates in the U.S. and continued nervousness about global economy, crushing a slew of popular trades so far this year.
The dollar tumbled against the euro and the Japanese yen, posting declines not seen in months. The euro gained 1.3% against the dollar to 1.1063, taking the common currency to the highest level against the U.S. currency since October. The dollar weakened 1.9% against the yen to 117.749 a dollar, the biggest decline since Aug. 24.
The WSJ Dollar Index, which compares the greenback against a basket of 16 commonly traded currencies, fell to the lowest level in a month.
Wednesday’s chaos in the global foreign-exchange markets began in Europe trading hours, when the sterling and New Zealand dollar rose against the U.S. dollar after the U.K.’s service sector showed a surprise expansion and the New Zealand central bank painted a better outlook for its economy.
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The sudden strength in both currencies wrecked the bets against them, triggering massive short coverings in which traders sold the dollar and bought back the sterling and Kiwi dollar. In recent trade, the sterling gained 1.1% against the dollar and the New Zealand dollar was up 2.3%.
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“This morning in London, it was very prominent that there was a squeeze of some of the popular trades that had worked very well in January,” said Richard Benson, a portfolio manager at Millennium Global Investments Ltd., a currency manager with $16 billion of assets under management.
To be sure, currency traders are no strangers to big swings, especially after a year when the Swiss National Bank and People’s Bank of China shocked the markets. But foreign-market markets were largely immune from the January market rout, emboldening traders to pile on these crowded trades.
Volatility began to spike in currencies after the Bank of Japan’s move on Friday to push yields down below zero, which triggered a decline in interest rates across the board. In the U.S., the 10-year benchmark Treasury yield dropped to 1.852%, a 10-month low, a move that’s more pronounced than in other developed markets and putting pressure on the dollar.
“Most of the popular theses for U.S. dollar outperformance hinge on interest rates support, and yet that’s continuing eroding that,” Mr. Benson said.
Also weighing on the dollar was investors’ reduced expectations for how far the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year, after New York Fed President William C. Dudley said Wednesday that recent market turmoil may alter the U.S. growth outlook and ISM numbers for January weakened.
Investors in the currency markets had only recently been pricing in as many three rate increases this year, far above the single rate increase being priced in by bond investors, said Peter Gorra, head of FX at BNP Paribas in New York.
“That kind of divergence could not last for long, and the currency investors have capitulated,” Mr. Gorra said. “It’s hard to be bullish the dollar when you are afraid that growth will slow.”
Wednesday, traders also rushed to cover their short positions on the yen, many of which were placed after the Bank of Japan’s Friday move to cut some interest rates below zero. Overnight, BOJ President Haruhiko Kuroda made an attempt to reassure the market that there’s no limit to its monetary-easing measures. However, his efforts backfired as it raised more questions about the efficacy of negative yields.
It’s surprising to see how quickly the effect of “the BOJ surprise has worn off,” said Win Thin, a currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. The yen had weakened 2% against the dollar on Friday, but all the move has evaporated by now.
“The market is basically rejecting what BOJ did,” said Brad Bechtel, a managing director of foreign exchange at Jefferies LLC. “This is probably frustrating the central bank in Japan.”
Fears over a devaluation in the Chinese currency re-emerged on Wednesday, as traders expected the PBOC to weaken the yuan around the coming G-20 meeting, which China will be presiding over. Traders noted that a spike of trading costs for bets linked to a weaker yuan, a sign of increased bearishness. In the forward market, traders now price in a nearly 6% depreciation in 12 months.
A rise in the crude oil prices helped commodity currencies recoup some losses against the dollar. The Russian ruble gained 1.8% to 78.167 a dollar, and the Brazilian real strengthened 1.6% to 3.9242 a dollar.
Write to Carolyn Cui at
carolyn.cui@wsj.com and Ira Iosebashviliat
ira.iosebashvili@wsj.com