You are right TheBramble with regards putting the rise withing context, i was really refering to the last 3 - 4 weeks. Anyways I blogged about this very question and here is my take below:
If you are an ardent follower of the market, you would have picked up on the fact that the dollar had being in decline for the last few months. However the last few weeks has seen a reversal of fortunes for the dollar against its trading partners. Why is this?
To put the dollar within context, it bridged the lows made towards the end of 2009 round the later weeks of April 2011, but not the very lows made 2008. However it has now reversed and moved up in an uptrend.
We will look at it against the following back drop: - yield differentials, relative inflation rates, trade flows, and growth prospects.
Let’s look at yield differentials:
The FED as left the fund rates at the lows, set beginning of the crises as such this is not a reason for the increase in value. In fact the ECB has increased rates recently and is expected to increase rates in the coming months, while the bank of England and BOJ are still operating low interest rates.
How about inflation comparison and expectation?
Based on current inflation data for April 2011, the U.S is running at 3.1% year on year compared to 2.4% for Germany and 2.1% for France the two largest EU countries and compared to 3.3% for Canada, 4.5% for U.K and Japans April inflation is yet to be released by its march inflation was 0.3%.
When you compare these figures, and general expectation of inflation by the market, there is no specific reason why the dollar should gain value against any of its trading partners, apart from the UK, which has a markedly higher inflation than the U.S
Where do we then stand with trade flow?
The latest trade flow data released for March shows a trade deficit of $48.2 billion, which was marginally worse than expected. Hence we cannot expect this to be a defining factor for the increase in value for the dollar. However we have to be careful with regards the trade flow data figures as there lag by two months to current situation. However import and export prices for April shows import price increase of 11.1 % year on year compared to 9.6% year on year increase for exports, which will reaffirm the negative flow for trade. In addition demand for U.S securities was at $24 billion slightly below expectation, and far below levels posted late last year.
How about growth?
Well the trade flow pose a negative factor to growth, so we need to look at investments and consumption to see where we are. Construction spending improved for March and came in above expectation at 1.4%, factory order release for May also improved and posted an above expectation of 3%, although compared to Germany which posted a 9% manufacturing order increase and generally has a higher expectation for growth, the figures for the U.S are not outstanding.
In conclusion the reason why we see increase in dollar value is due to the risk aversion of the market due to the euro debt issue and some of the sharp reversal seen within the commodity market. As oppose to other fundamental factors that may impact currency move.
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