The dollar and yen will strengthen in the next six months as skepticism about a U.S. plan to rescue the banking system increases demand for the currencies as a haven, a survey of Bloomberg users showed.
Participants turned positive on the U.S. greenback for the first time since December and are the most bullish on the Japanese currency since November, according to 3,069 respondents from New York to Tokyo in the monthly Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Index. Investors became the most bearish on Mexico’s peso since November 2008.
Stocks fell yesterday, government bonds rallied and the dollar and yen appreciated even as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pledged government financing for the bailout that may grow to as much as $2 trillion. Last month the International Monetary Fund cut its estimate for world economic growth this year to 0.5 percent, the weakest since World War II.
“There’s no quick fix,” said Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist at FOREX.com, a unit of online currency trading firm Gain Capital in Bedminster, New Jersey, and a survey participant.
The survey was conducted before Geithner yesterday presented his plan to for a joint public- and private-sector fund to buy as much as $1 trillion of illiquid assets and a $1 trillion program to supply new credit to consumers and businesses.
The index of expectations on the dollar rose to 50.16 for February, from 45.53 the previous month. A reading above 50 indicates participants expect the currency to appreciate. The dollar is prized in times of turmoil because of the liquidity provided through its status as the world’s largest reserve currency.
From Bloomberg News.
Participants turned positive on the U.S. greenback for the first time since December and are the most bullish on the Japanese currency since November, according to 3,069 respondents from New York to Tokyo in the monthly Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Index. Investors became the most bearish on Mexico’s peso since November 2008.
Stocks fell yesterday, government bonds rallied and the dollar and yen appreciated even as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pledged government financing for the bailout that may grow to as much as $2 trillion. Last month the International Monetary Fund cut its estimate for world economic growth this year to 0.5 percent, the weakest since World War II.
“There’s no quick fix,” said Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist at FOREX.com, a unit of online currency trading firm Gain Capital in Bedminster, New Jersey, and a survey participant.
The survey was conducted before Geithner yesterday presented his plan to for a joint public- and private-sector fund to buy as much as $1 trillion of illiquid assets and a $1 trillion program to supply new credit to consumers and businesses.
The index of expectations on the dollar rose to 50.16 for February, from 45.53 the previous month. A reading above 50 indicates participants expect the currency to appreciate. The dollar is prized in times of turmoil because of the liquidity provided through its status as the world’s largest reserve currency.
From Bloomberg News.