CORRECTED - FOREX-Dollar hits record low vs euro on rate-cut fears

Tue Nov 6, 2007 4:49pm GMT
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(Corrects headline to read 'rate-cut fears' instead of 'rate-hike')

By Lucia Mutikani

NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - The dollar fell to all-time lows against the euro and a basket of major currencies on Tuesday as investors feared the fallout from the credit turmoil was far from over and the Fed will have to cut interest rates some more.

Analysts said Citigroup Inc's (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) announcement on Sunday of a potential $11 billion write-off in subprime mortgage losses had led many to believe that the worst from the housing market's slump was still to come.

The credit crisis, stemming from U.S. home loans to people with poor credit histories, which were packaged and sold to investors around the globe, has caused liquidity problems and contributed to negative sentiment toward the dollar.

With the tightening of lending standards, companies and individuals are finding it difficult to borrow, a fact that analysts said could crimp U.S. economic growth.

"Throughout the banking system, there is a real belief that a lot of U.S. banks haven't come clean yet on what their exposures are to this subprime fallout and as a result, the view is that the Fed will have to cut rates again at the December meeting," said Greg Salvaggio, senior currency trader at Tempus Consulting in Washington.

Those expectations of further monetary easing in the United States have seen investors focusing on the yield play, driving the euro to successive record peaks against the dollar.

The euro rose as high as $1.4571 EUR=, according to Reuters data, its highest level since its 1999 launch. It was last trading at $1.4557, up 0.7 percent on the day.  Continued...

 

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