Investing.com - The U.S. dollar traded higher against most of its major rivals during Wednesday’s Asian despite news that one of the three major ratings agencies could lower its rating on U.S. sovereign debt.
In Asian trading Wednesday, EUR/USD fell 0.12% to 1.3510. Data out Tuesday showed that German economic sentiment improved more than expected in October by rising to the highest level since April 2010.
The ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment rose by 3.2 points to hit 52.8 in October from September’s reading of 49.6. Analysts had expected an unchanged reading. Euro zone consumer price inflation data is due out later Wednesday.
USD/JPY climbed 0.37% to 98.55 as investors appeared to be favoring the greenback as a safe-haven play over the yen.
Negotiations among lawmakers to agree on a way to fund the government and avoid possible defaults hit a snag on Tuesday after the Democratically-controlled Senate said it would stop working on a way out of the impasse until the Republican controlled House comes up with a proposal.
GBP/USD dropped 0.18% to 1.5968 after data showed that the rate of consumer price inflation in the U.K. accelerated 2.7% on a year-over-year basis last month, unchanged from August.
Analysts had expected consumer price inflation to tick down to 2.6%. Month-over-month, consumer price inflation rose by 0.4% in September, above expectations for a 0.3% increase.
USD/CHF gained 0.29% to 0.9149 while USD/CAD inched up 0.02% to 1.0383.
Fitch Ratings, the only of one of the three major credit ratings agencies that still has an AAA rating on the U.S., put U.S. Treasury bonds on Rating Watch Negative. That could be viewed as a sign Fitch is preparing to pare its rating on U.S. sovereign debt.
"The prolonged negotiations over raising the debt ceiling ... risks undermining confidence in the role of the U.S. dollar as the preeminent global reserve currency, by casting doubt over the full faith and credit of the U.S. This `faith' is a key reason why the U.S. 'AAA' rating can tolerate a substantially higher level of public debt than other AAA" bonds," said Fitch in a statement.
AUD/USD fell 0.09% to 0.9518 while NZD/USD gained 0.0.4% to 0.8384. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.09% to 80.66.
In Asian trading Wednesday, EUR/USD fell 0.12% to 1.3510. Data out Tuesday showed that German economic sentiment improved more than expected in October by rising to the highest level since April 2010.
The ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment rose by 3.2 points to hit 52.8 in October from September’s reading of 49.6. Analysts had expected an unchanged reading. Euro zone consumer price inflation data is due out later Wednesday.
USD/JPY climbed 0.37% to 98.55 as investors appeared to be favoring the greenback as a safe-haven play over the yen.
Negotiations among lawmakers to agree on a way to fund the government and avoid possible defaults hit a snag on Tuesday after the Democratically-controlled Senate said it would stop working on a way out of the impasse until the Republican controlled House comes up with a proposal.
GBP/USD dropped 0.18% to 1.5968 after data showed that the rate of consumer price inflation in the U.K. accelerated 2.7% on a year-over-year basis last month, unchanged from August.
Analysts had expected consumer price inflation to tick down to 2.6%. Month-over-month, consumer price inflation rose by 0.4% in September, above expectations for a 0.3% increase.
USD/CHF gained 0.29% to 0.9149 while USD/CAD inched up 0.02% to 1.0383.
Fitch Ratings, the only of one of the three major credit ratings agencies that still has an AAA rating on the U.S., put U.S. Treasury bonds on Rating Watch Negative. That could be viewed as a sign Fitch is preparing to pare its rating on U.S. sovereign debt.
"The prolonged negotiations over raising the debt ceiling ... risks undermining confidence in the role of the U.S. dollar as the preeminent global reserve currency, by casting doubt over the full faith and credit of the U.S. This `faith' is a key reason why the U.S. 'AAA' rating can tolerate a substantially higher level of public debt than other AAA" bonds," said Fitch in a statement.
AUD/USD fell 0.09% to 0.9518 while NZD/USD gained 0.0.4% to 0.8384. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.09% to 80.66.