Dubai World's woes rumble through currency markets

[pscot]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/world-forexdollar-plunges-below-y85-first-time-in-14-years-2009-11-26

TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar plunged below Y85.00 in Asia Friday to a fresh 14-year low, as investors piled into the yen on the view it offers the safest haven amid falling Asian share prices and concerns over global banks’ exposure to Dubai debt. The dollar later rebounded somewhat, helped by a sterner warning from Japan's finance minister about the yen's sharp moves, but traders said market sentiment toward the greenback remains starkly bearish.
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Analysts and dealers said the dollar could be heading in coming sessions to the post-war low of Y79.92 marked in April 1995, according to EBS, though concern over possible intervention could offer some support for now.
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Exacerbating the dollar’s troubles against the yen were worries over global banks’ exposure to the debt problems of a real-estate subsidiary of Dubai’s state-run Dubai World, dealers said. Standard & Poor's rating agency overnight put Dubai’s four major banks on credit watch, heightening concern over any European and U.S. exposure to the problems. That led many investors to look “to cut exposure to risk assets” such as the euro, with the safe-haven yen benefiting most, said Minoru Shioiri, chief manager of forex trading at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
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Other dealers echoed that view. “With the Dubai issue brewing, the yen is strengthening against the dollar, because the yen is the favored safe haven, followed by the dollar, with the euro in third place,” said Societe Generale’s Yuji Saito.

At 0030 GMT, the dollar stood at Y85.45 compared to Y86.49 Thursday afternoon in Toronto. The euro was at Y128.04, down from Y129.74. Against the dollar, the common currency traded hands at $1.4983 compared to $1.5009. The euro would likely stick to a $1.4950-$1.5050 into the weekend, sandwiched between the Dubai debt concerns and “the broader trend of dollar weakness,” said Mitsubishi UFJ’s Shioiri.

[rwheeler31]

1. Dubai is the playground of the wealthy.

Suck it up you rich bums.

[phasma ex machina]

4. Either that or a wealthy illusion to siphon off discretionary income from the masses. nt

[Vinnie From Indy]

2. You can bet that poor/middle class people somewhere are gonna pay the price

Never losing a bet is what modern capitalism has become for the ultra-wealthy, connected elite. You can be quite sure that many phone calls were made long before this story hit the press and that many of the players had ample time to move their assets/investments.

[Ghost Dog]

3. Sterling plunged, but has recovered a little:

Fri, Nov 27 2009, 08:05 GMT FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Pound's decline from 1.6730/45 week highs has extended during Asian session from levels around 1.6530 to levels right below 1.6300 hitting a fresh 3-week low at 1.6270; 1.4% below its day-opening price action.

The Pound is on a sharp downside trend, and deep into oversold territory, next support levels lie at 1.6290 (50% fib retracement of the Oct Nov rally), and below here, 1.6250/60 (Nov 3, Oct 26 low) and 1.6200. Resistance levels lie at 1.6460 (recent lows), and above here, 1.6535 (session high) and 1.6575.

/... http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?StoryId=0092fbbb-cfe8-4387-9591-a0af2fbd48de

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(See also: Sterling, Dubai: a liquidation love story: http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/11/26/85536/sterling-dubai-a-liquidation-love-story/?source=rss )

[pscot]

5. Gold is off a bit. Oil is down more.

The interesting thing to me was the response Friday in Asian currency markets. They looked for security not in the dollar, but the Japanese yen.