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1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar rallies after Brexit vote

Xinhua, June 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

The U.S. dollar increased against most major currencies on Friday after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a historic referendum.

The Leave camp won Britain's Brexit referendum on Friday morning by obtaining nearly 52 percent of ballots, pulling the country out of the 28-nation European Union (EU) after its 43-year membership.

Sterling and euro were hit hard after the vote, as investors' worries about the impact of the Brexit on the UK and euro zone economy have soared.

During the session, sterling once plunged 10 percent against the greenback to its lowest level in 31 years. The shared currency pared losses against the greenback in late trading after touching its weakest level in three and half months.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen inched up nearly 3.7 percent against the greenback to trade at 102.24 U.S. dollars in late trading due to its safe haven status.

Robert Savage, chief executive officer of CC Track Solutions, told Xinhua on Friday that the British pound "is likely going to continue to suffer given uncertainty of politics and growth."

He added that the yen is the most likely target for further moves with central bank intervention, but many investors expect the dollar/yen exchange rate to fall to 90 if Bank of Japan does not act in July.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major peers, was up 1.78 percent at 95.197 in late trading.

On the U.S. economic front, new orders for manufactured durable goods in May decreased 5.3 billion U.S. dollars, or 2.2 percent, to 230.7 billion dollars, the Commerce Department announced Friday.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1144 dollars from 1.1355 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.3696 dollars from 1.4803 dollars. The Australian dollar went down to 0.7508 dollars from 0.7598 dollars.

The dollar bought 102.24 Japanese yen, lower than 105.82 yen of the previous session. The dollar rose to 0.9724 Swiss francs from 0.9574 Swiss francs, and it climbed to 1.2936 Canadian dollars from 1.2785 Canadian dollars. Endit