Forex Update: US Dollar falls following Fed move. Stocks, Gold jump

By CountingPips.com

The day after the Federal Reserve decision to buy $600 billion of long-term treasuries through June 2011 has found the US dollar on the defensive across the board against the major currencies. The dollar has declined against the euro, British pound sterling, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Japanese yen, Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar in today’s trading.

The US stock markets have been riding high today with the Dow Jones higher by over 150 points, the NASDAQ rising above 30 points and the S&P 500 increasing by over 15 points at about the halfway point of today’s session.

In commodities, gold has surged higher by $43.70 to trade at the $1380.80 level while oil has increased by $1.74 to level at the $86.43 mark.

Currencies hit notable highs vs. Dollar

• The euro has ascended today in the fx markets versus the dollar to trade above the 1.4200 exchange rate and has reached its highest trading level since January.

• The Australian dollar is trading at its all-time high against the American currency and has gone beyond parity as the AUD/USD trades over the 1.0125 level.

• The British pound sterling, like the euro, has also reached its highest rating level since January 2010 and as the pair touched the 1.6305 exchange rate.

• The New Zealand dollar trades at its highest level against the US dollar since the first half of 2008 and the NZD/USD is approaching the 0.8000 exchange rate

FOREX: AUD/USD Monthly Chart – The Aussie continues to fly high against the US Dollar in forex trading and today hit its all-time highest exchange rate since the currency floated freely in 1983.