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Dollar slips on upbeat Chinese data, new global banking rules

Dollar slips on upbeat Chinese data, new global banking rules

Write: Keiko [2011-05-20]
The U.S. dollar tumbled against most major currencies in late New York trading on Monday as upbeat Chinese economic data and new global banking rules boosted risk appetite.
The latest data released by National Bureau of Statistics of China on Saturday showed factory production expanded in August, raising optimism in market. However, the rapid growth of CPI stirred up some concern about measures would be taken by Chinese government to ease the pressure on price.
Banks have to comply with stricter capital requirements according to new banking rules passed by regulators on Sunday. New Basel rules require banks to hold top-quality capital totaling seven percent of their risk-bearing assets, which is up from two percent under current rules. The longer-than-expected time for banks to adapt shifted the market's attention to more short-term market-affecting factors.
"There's no doubt that risk appetite has returned, and the strong Chinese data reduces the risk of a global double-dip recession," said Matthew Strauss, senior strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto.
However, mid-term or long-term concern still existed in the market. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who said China had made little effort on yuan's more market orientation, was due to discuss China's exchange rate practices before Congress this week. The market worried about the pressure on yuan's appreciation from U.S. government would lead to further depreciation of the dollar.
In late Monday trading, the dollar bought 83.63 Japanese yen compared with 84.15 yen late Friday, and the euro rose to 1.2867 dollars from 1.2718 dollars.
The British pound rose to 1.5408 dollars from 1.5354 dollars. The dollar fell from 1.0192 to 1.0085 against Swiss francs, and also fell to 1.0271 Canadian dollars from 1.0354 Canadian dollars.