Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : The Hot Button Questions:- Money, Banks, & the Economy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: maceng2 who wrote (676)	12/23/2004 2:53:03 PM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1417

Dollar hits new record low against euro after U.S. economic news report DAVID RISING, Associated Press Writer sfgate.com Thursday, December 23 (12-23) 07:40 PST BERLIN (AP) -- The U.S. dollar hit a new all-time low Thursday against the euro, which reached $1.3489 after a mixed economic report from the U.S. Commerce Department. The euro hovered around the previous mark of $1.3470, set Dec. 7, in light European trading for most of the day before rising sharply after the report. The 12-nation currency has risen sharply since September, when it was trading for around $1.20, over persistent concerns about the ballooning U.S. trade and budget deficits. With no end to those problems in sight, analysts see the trend continuing. "I can see it finishing the year around $1.35 and we see that it's going to be a steady track upward for the euro/dollar in 2005, finishing the year around $1.40," said Adrian Hughes, a currency strategist with HSBC in London. The euro initially fell against the dollar after its 1999 debut, but it has risen about 63 percent since bottoming out at 82 U.S. cents in October 2000. The Commerce Department reported that consumer spending grew by a modest 0.2 percent in November, slightly weaker than the 0.3 percent that had been forecast by analysts and far short of the 0.8 percent reported for October. At the same time, incomes grew 0.3 percent in November, more than the 0.2 percent that had been forecast. Still, income growth was weaker than in October, when it hit 0.6 percent. The euro rise following the mixed news may have something to do with the small amount of trading just before Christmas, Hughes said. The U.S. administration says it has a "strong dollar" policy but also that it will let market forces set the currency's strength. Most analysts believe the United States is content to let the dollar fall because it has been making American exports cheaper. However, Europe's fragile economic recovery is export-driven, and the strong euro has either been making European goods more expensive overseas or cutting into producers' profits as they try to hold prices steady. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet has called the rapid increase in the euro's strength both "unwelcome" and "brutal." However, the bank has yet to take the next step and intervene in currency markets to halt the dollar's slide. The pound was trading at $1.9186 and the dollar bought 103.71 Japanese yen at late afternoon in Europe.