Investing.com - The dollar surged against the world's major currencies on Friday after reports emerged that Standard & Poor's was planning to downgrade France, a previously AAA-rated country.
The dollar Friday was up against the euro, with EUR/USD diving 1.07% to hit 1.2677.
The euro spent most of Friday plunging against the dollar as media reports across Europe surfaced that Standard & Poor's had decided to downgrade France and several other countries.
France's Finance Minister confirmed the move.
Furthermore, talks between Greece and a group of creditors over handling debt stalled, which further pressured the euro downwards.
"The rumors of the pending cuts were enough to make the euro fall off and then take stocks with it," said John Doyle, director of markets in Washington at the currency-trading firm Tempus Consulting, according to Bloomberg.
"Greece has been a thorn in the side of the euro for almost three years now, and it will be a continuing weight on the euro."
Meanwhile, the dollar was stronger against the pound, with Cable falling 0.12% to hit 1.5314.
The greenback was up 0.20% against the yen, with USD/JPY trading at 76.92, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF gaining 0.87% at 0.9528.
Debt denominated in the dollar, the yen and the Swiss franc have all served as safe-haven asset classes recently.
"The three strongest net inflows being currently witnessed amongst global fixed-income markets are into Japanese government bonds, Swiss bonds and U.S. Treasuries," Samarjit Shankar, a managing director for the foreign-exchange group in Boston at Bank of New York Mellon, wrote to clients, according to Bloomberg.
"This flight to relative safe and liquid assets is being spurred by renewed concerns about potential credit rating downgrades in the euro zone."
The greenback was up against its counterparts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD rising 0.38% to 1.0230, AUD/USD down 0.31% to 1.0307 and NZD/USD down 0.08% at 0.7932.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.82% at 81.72.
Later Friday, Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans is set to speak although markets will keep a close eye on Europe and track the fallout of the downgrade.
The dollar Friday was up against the euro, with EUR/USD diving 1.07% to hit 1.2677.
The euro spent most of Friday plunging against the dollar as media reports across Europe surfaced that Standard & Poor's had decided to downgrade France and several other countries.
France's Finance Minister confirmed the move.
Furthermore, talks between Greece and a group of creditors over handling debt stalled, which further pressured the euro downwards.
"The rumors of the pending cuts were enough to make the euro fall off and then take stocks with it," said John Doyle, director of markets in Washington at the currency-trading firm Tempus Consulting, according to Bloomberg.
"Greece has been a thorn in the side of the euro for almost three years now, and it will be a continuing weight on the euro."
Meanwhile, the dollar was stronger against the pound, with Cable falling 0.12% to hit 1.5314.
The greenback was up 0.20% against the yen, with USD/JPY trading at 76.92, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF gaining 0.87% at 0.9528.
Debt denominated in the dollar, the yen and the Swiss franc have all served as safe-haven asset classes recently.
"The three strongest net inflows being currently witnessed amongst global fixed-income markets are into Japanese government bonds, Swiss bonds and U.S. Treasuries," Samarjit Shankar, a managing director for the foreign-exchange group in Boston at Bank of New York Mellon, wrote to clients, according to Bloomberg.
"This flight to relative safe and liquid assets is being spurred by renewed concerns about potential credit rating downgrades in the euro zone."
The greenback was up against its counterparts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD rising 0.38% to 1.0230, AUD/USD down 0.31% to 1.0307 and NZD/USD down 0.08% at 0.7932.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.82% at 81.72.
Later Friday, Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans is set to speak although markets will keep a close eye on Europe and track the fallout of the downgrade.