Forex: Dollar surges on risk aversion. US Stocks dive

By CountingPips.com

The US dollar has been sharply higher against the other major currencies in forex trading today while the US stock markets have retreated lower following stock declines in Asia and Europe. Poor consumer confidence data released today has dampened risk appetite in the US session and propelled the markets lower as the Conference Board report came in worse than anticipated. June’s US consumer confidence report scored 52.9 for the month following a 62.7 revised score for May and below the 62.5 that the market forecasters were expecting.

Earlier today, the Conference Board also revised its April leading indicator score for China to its lowest level in five months, prompting fears of a potential Chinese economic slowdown.

The dollar today has traded higher versus the euro, British Pound sterling, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and the Canadian dollar while falling against the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc, according to currency data in the afternoon of the US trading session.

US stock markets have fallen sharply in their session today as the Dow Jones industrial average has declined over 2% and 200 points to trade under the 10,000 level. The NASDAQ has fallen over 3% and the S&P 500 has decreased by over 2.5% so far today. Oil has traded lower by $2.42 to level at $75.83 per barrel while gold has increased by almost 4 dollars today to level at $1,242.00 per ounce.

EUR/USD Forex hourly chart — The euro falling sharply against the US dollar in forex trading for a second day in a row and currently trading around 1.2200 mark. The Euro/US Dollar pair broke through recent support at 1.2250 to touch the 1.2150 exchange rate, marking its lowest level in over two weeks since June 13. Next lower support level will be the 1.2150 area and a break of this level could signal a further test of the June 7th low at the 1.1875 exchange rate.

Euro Forex US dollar