The dollar continued its tumble today as markets rallied on positive earnings and Chinese trade data, while a Federal Reserve official reiterated that U.S. interest rates would stay low, according to AP. The greenback sank to 14-month lows versus the euro and Australian dollar, a 13-month low against the Canadian dollar and moved lower against the Japanese yen. The dollar has been falling steadily this spring as the world economy recovers. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the buck had surged higher, peaking in March as spooked investors cut their holdings of riskier emerging-market assets and dove for the safety of the dollar and the U.S. government debt it can buy. But now that several countries' economies are growing again, and analysts expect U.S. GDP growth of 3 percent in the third quarter, investors are more willing to engage in risky trading such as borrowing the dollar to buy better-yielding currencies. Gold, meanwhile, hit another record high of $1,072 an ounce. The dollar often trades in opposition to equities, while gold is used as a hedge against a dropping buck and possible future inflation. The 16-nation euro peaked at $1.4920 Wednesday, trading down to $1.4885 later in the New York session, from $1.4829 late Tuesday. That's its highest point since last August. Meanwhile, the dollar dropped to 89.43 Japanese yen from 89.76 yen and a 13-month low of 1.0250 against the Canadian dollar, while the Australian dollar peaked at a 14-month high of 91.57 U.S. cents.
