FOREX Update: US Dollar on defensive in trading as risk returns

By CountingPips.com

The US dollar has been on the defensive today in the forex markets as the US stock markets have increased and investors have pushed riskier currencies higher. The dollar has declined against the euro, Swiss franc, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the New Zealand dollar while trading slightly higher against the British pound sterling, according to currency data from Oanda.

The euro has risen against the dollar for a second straight day with the EUR/USD currency pair trading above the 1.3200 for the first time in three days. The euro had fallen to the 1.2969 level against the dollar on Tuesday before rebounding and could make its way to the resistance level near 1.3300, the November 29 high point and past resistance level.

The US stock markets, meanwhile, have had a positive session today with the Dow Jones industrial average rising by approximately 100 points, the NASDAQ increasing by proximately 25 points and the S&P 500 higher by over 10 points at time of writing. In commodities, gold has been higher by $2.20 to trade at the $1389.80 per ounce level and oil has been higher by $1.11 to trade at the $87.86 per barrel level.