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FOREX-Euro hits 1-yr high as mkt resumes dollar selling

Published 09/22/2009, 03:55 AM
Updated 09/22/2009, 03:57 AM

* Euro at 1-year high of $1.4791 as dollar slides

* Dollar slides as bears resume control ahead of Fed, G20

* NZ dollar surges 2 percent

(Updates prices, adds quotes, changes byline and dateline. Previous TOKYO)

By Jamie McGeever

LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The euro hit a one-year high against a broadly weak dollar on Tuesday as dealers took advantage of the U.S. currency's rise the previous session to resume selling ahead of a Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting and a Group of 20 summit later in the week.

With no major economic data releases or events to offer direction on Tuesday and liquidity lighter than usual owing to holidays in Japan, the dollar was at the mercy of technicals, positioning and pre-placed orders being triggered.

The backdrop to that is strongly bearish market sentiment toward the currency. Analysts expect the Fed to signal its ultra-loose monetary policy will remain in place well into next year and the G20 to discuss rebalancing the global economy, a process which will require a weaker dollar over time.

Options-related buying and strong demand from Asian accounts pushed the euro up toward $1.48, while the dollar also hit a 14-month low against the Swiss franc.

"It's all about the $1.4800 knock-out option...and Asian names hoovering up euros," said one trader in London, echoing market talk that a large U.S. bank was a notable buyer in the run up to $1.48.

"We had the dollar a bit stronger (on Monday)...but the rebound was more technical, from the weakness over the last couple of weeks," said Marcus Hettinger, global FX strategist at Credit Suisse in Zurich.

"Overall the trend for the dollar is still down," he said, predicting the euro at $1.50 by the end of the year.

At 0740 GMT the euro was up 0.8 percent on the day at $1.4791, a fresh one-year high.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was down 0.8 percent at 76.155, approaching the one-year low of 76.01 struck on Sept 17.

The index has shed more than 2 percent this month as speculators dumped the dollar in favour of higher-yielding currencies and assets amid rising confidence in a global recovery and expectations rates will stay at rock-bottom levels.

The dollar fell 1 percent against the yen to 91.15 yen and was down 0.8 percent against the Swiss franc at a 14-month low of 1.0248 francs.

The New Zealand dollar surged 2 percent to a 13-month high against the dollar of $0.7210 after dairy exporter Fonterra raised its estimated payout to farmer shareholders, pointing to stronger global demand and a recovery in dairy prices.

Fonterra accounts for around 7 percent of the New Zealand economy.

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