The chart below shows the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (NYSE:UUP) compared to the S&P 500 and United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO). The dollar carry trade is apparently unwinding, with international traders no longer eager to borrow in low-interest dollar assets to finance purchases of higher-return currencies and commodities.
Investors are expecting a rate increase in the U.S., and confidence in the euro has been shaken by the fiscal fall of Greece, a eurozone country. Greece had its sovereign credit rating downgraded by ratings agency Fitch during the business day Tuesday, and even though Fitch’s peer Moody’s issued a debt warning on the U.S. and U.K., the euro bore the brunt of the day’s ratings melee.
Gold is falling along with oil, as those two favorite commodities bear out their traditional inverse variation to the greenback’s movement. Check out the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSE:GLD) to see its drop on the week.
Will this dollar dynamic steer us irreversibly away from $100 oil? Does it mean that the U.S. is out of the woods, debt-wise? Stay tuned to Energy and Capital for more.
-Sam Hopkins
