Thursday, the US dollar rose to new multi-month highs against the European currency and the Swiss franc as a fall in global stock prices prompted investors to seek the safety of the US currency. The dollar also climbed to a 3-day high against the British pound, while declined from an early Asian session's 13-day high against the Japanese yen.
World stock markets fell today as the dollar strengthened after the Federal Reserve signaled it would start undoing some of its emergency supports next year as the economic recovery gathers pace.
Major indexes in Asia and Europe were down by about 1 percent or less.
As trading got under way in Europe, benchmarks in Britain, France and Germany were off by about 0.5 percent each.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 stock average shed 13.61 points, or 0.1 percent, to 10,163.80, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 264.11 points, or 1.2 percent, to 21,347.63.
Elsewhere, Korea's Kospi dropped 1 percent to 1,647.84 and Shanghai's market tumbled 2.3 percent to 3179.08. Markets in Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia also fell.
Australia's market bucked the trend, adding 0.2 percent.
Against the European currency, the US dollar traded higher during early deals on Thursday. At 11:40 pm ET, the dollar climbed to 1.4371 against the euro, compared to 1.4532 hit late New York Wednesday. This set the highest mark for the dollar since September 8, 2009. The next upside target level for the dollar is seen around 1.428. Currently, the euro-dollar pair is trading at 1.4392.
The US currency that closed Wednesday's North American session at 1.6336 against the British pound rose to a 3-day high of 1.6206 at 2:15 am ET Thursday. On the upside, 1.617 is seen as the next target level for the dollar. The pound-dollar pair is now worth 1.6216.
Against the Swiss franc, the greenback edged higher during today's early deals. At 11:40 pm ET, the dollar-franc pair reached a new multi-month high of 1.0484, compared to Wednesday's closing value of 1.0388. If the pair gains further, 1.054 is seen as the next target level. As of now, the pair is worth 1.0472.
The dollar lost ground after hitting a 13-day high of 90.28 against the Japanese yen during Thursday's early Asian deals. At 2:35 am ET, the dollar-yen pair declined to 89.58 with 87.5 seen as the next target level. The dollar-yen pair that closed Wednesday's New York deals at 89.79 is now quoted at 89.81.
Japan's leading index for October was revised down to 89.4 from 89.7, the Cabinet Office said today. However, the index stood above September's 87.5 and improved for the eighth straight month.
At 5:00 am ET, the Centre for European Economic Research or ZEW is expected to release economic sentiment survey results for Switzerland. Elsewhere, Eurozone construction output data for October is due for release from Eurostat.
From U.S., the Labor Department is due to release its customary jobless claims report for the week ended December 12th at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect a decline in claims to 465,000. At 10:00 am ET, the Conference Board is scheduled to release a report on the U.S. leading index for November. The consensus estimate calls for a 0.7% increase in the leading indicators index for the month.
At the same time, the results of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing survey are also due out. Economists expect the diffusion index of current activity to show a reading of 16 for December.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.