Greenback Plummets To New Yearly Lows, Near 1995 Trough Versus Yen

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The dollar plunged to new yearly lows against a basket of major counterparts on Wednesday as traders considered another batch of mixed economic data.

After this week's jobless claims data signaled the beleagured labor market may be bottoming out, the dollar tested a 1995 low versus the yen and slipped below parity versus the Swiss franc for the first time since May of last year.

The buck also hit a fresh 15-month trough against the euro, falling through support to $1.5135.

Versus the yen, the dollar extended its recent losses to hit a 10-month low of 87.25. Back in January during the throes of the financial crisis, the dollar hit 87.08, its worst level since the mid-90's.

Versus the Swiss franc, the dollar hit a 19-month low of .9992. Meanwhile, the dollar bounced back from some early weakness versus the sterling to trade at 1.6665.

It was a hectic day on in economic news ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Traders away from their desks missed encouraging news on the jobs front and some mixed readings on housing.

New claims for unemployment posted a surprise drop last week, falling to 466,000, a more than 13-month low.

New home sales unexpectedly rose to a 430,000 annual unit rate in October from a 405,000 unit rate in September.

Also, consumer income and spending both increased by a little more than economists had been expecting. Personal spending rose by 0.7 percent in October after falling by 0.6 percent in the previous month.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)