MW: Dollar rises against most rivals as global stocks sell off
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar rose Wednesday against most of its major rivals except the Japanese yen, as falling global equity markets led investors to seek safety in the greenback and cut exposure to assets perceived as risky.
The Japanese yen, however, was the main beneficiary of safe-haven inflows. The dollar fell 0.8% to 91.04 yen, while the euro dropped 0.9% to 134.61 yen.
The dollar index (DXY 76.34, +0.21, +0.27%) , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose to 76.345 compared with 76.149 late Tuesday.
"The U.S. dollar continues to trade with a firm tone as risk-on trades continue to be cut back," wrote analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in a note to clients.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower opening on Wall Street ahead of economic data, as most European and Asian markets posted losses.
Durable goods orders for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern and new home sales data for September is due at 10 a.m. That data comes ahead of Thursday's eagerly awaited key third-quarter gross domestic product report.
Most commodity prices declined, with oil futures trading down 1%.
Particularly hard hit Wednesday was the Australian dollar, which tumbled 1.4% against the greenback to 90.37 U.S. cents after Australian inflation data came in slightly below expectations.
The consumer price index data led investors to pare bets that the Reserve Bank of Australia will decide on a hefty interest-rate hike next week.
Higher interest rates boost the return of investments denominated in a country's currency. See full story on Australian price data.
"With RBA rate hike now most likely limited to 25 basis points the pair could drift lower to test the .9000 level if risk aversion flows continue to dominate trade for the rest of the week," said Boris Schlossberg, director of currency research at GFT.
The Australian dollar also tumbled 2.2% against the Japanese yen.
The New Zealand dollar fell 1.4% against the greenback ahead of the decision on interest rates from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which is due at 9 a.m. on Oct. 29 local time.
In other trading, the euro edged down 0.2% to $1.4770, while the British pound fell 0.5% to $1.6290.
