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FOREX-Dollar falls broadly, euro climbs to 14-mth high

Published 10/14/2009, 06:48 AM
Updated 10/14/2009, 06:51 AM
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* Dollar hits 14-mth lows vs euro, Aussie, CAD, FX basket

* Euro boosted after euro zone industry output data

* Market awaits JPM Q3 earnings (Adds comment, details, updates throughout)

By Naomi Tajitsu

LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The dollar hit a 14-month low versus the euro and a currency basket on Wednesday on the view that U.S. interest rates will stay low, while optimism about a global recovery tarnished the U.S. currency's safe-haven appeal.

A rally in oil and gold prices, reflecting investor optimism, helped push the Australian and Canadian dollars to 14-month highs against their U.S. counterpart. Share prices rose, also dimming the dollar's appeal.

The euro was boosted after data showing a monthly acceleration in euro zone industrial output suggested the region's economy was picking up.

The market awaited third-quarter earnings from JPMorgan later in the day for evidence of how banks are recovering from the economic crisis.

Analysts said negative dollar sentiment was the day's main driver and this helped the Swiss franc to a 15-month high.

Some added the 0.9 percent month-on-month rise in euro zone output offset a Tuesday poll showing a fall in German sentiment.

"Today's data eased some concerns about the euro zone economy after yesterday's weak ZEW survey," said Jeremy Stretch, strategist at Rabobank in London, adding this had helped to prod the euro higher.

Also pressuring the dollar were comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn, who said on Tuesday the economy would not snap back quickly from recession, bolstering expectations low U.S. rates will be maintained.

By 1006 GMT, the euro had hit $1.4913 according to trading platform EBS, its highest since August 2008.

Option barriers suspected around those levels were seen providing some resistance to further gains, but many in the market see the euro climbing higher and some analysts see a break above $1.50 in coming weeks.

The dollar index, which tracks the dollar's value against a basket of currencies, slid to 75.452, a trough last seen in August 2008. The Swiss franc rose to around 1.0170 francs versus the dollar, its highest since July 2008.

The dollar fell 0.6 percent to 89.14 yen. The Japanese currency drew support from a deputy finance minister who signalled yen-weakening intervention was undesirable.

Record high gold prices and a rally in U.S. crude to its strongest this year helped boost high-yielding currencies, with the Australian and Canadian dollars hitting their strongest since August 2008.

JPMORGAN IN FOCUS

Higher commodity prices and increasing market optimism about the economy helped to push European shares 1.7 percent higher on the day. U.S. stock futures rose, while MSCI's all-country world index hit a one-year high.

Analysts said higher share prices would continue to pummel the dollar on the view that an improving economy would decrease demand for safe-haven dollars.

"We have seen the correlation between the equity market and euro/dollar has declined slightly in the past month, but it is still high by historical standards," said Kasper Kirkegaard, currency strategist at Danske Markets in Copenhagen.

For a graphic on the correlation between euro/dollar and world stocks, click on http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/109/GLB_MKTH1009.gif

Analysts said the day's main event would be JPMorgan earnings results due around 1100 GMT. A strong reading may further whet the market's risk appetite, which could drive the dollar lower, they said.

Also in focus were U.S. retail sales for September at 1230 GMT. Expectations are for a 2.1 percent fall from August, when sales rose 2.7 percent.

(Editing by Nigel Stephenson)

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