Published: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:34:44 +0100

Greenback Moves Higher After Japanese Official Says G20 to Back USD

(CEP News) - The U.S. Dollar is mostly stronger on Friday after a Japanese Finance Ministry Official said the G20 would likely not question moving away from the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency.

According to Reuters, a senior Japanese Finance Ministry official said he does not expect the G20 to discuss abandoning the USD in favour of a new reserve currency.

Traders and media alike are divided over whether the recent 21% gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average from October 2008 lows implies a return to a bull market.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. government's Auto Task Force will likely extend General Motors' March 31 deadline to prove its viability by one month.

Citing comments from European Central Bank Vice-President Lucas Papademos on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal says the ECB could begin buying corporate bonds to support the euro zone economy.

All data taken at 7:26 a.m. EDT

Euro/USD down 1.30 cents to 1.3397

USD/CAD up 0.52 cents to 1.2358

USD/Yen down 0.79 points to 97.93

GBP/USD down 1.25 cents to 1.4328

AUD/USD down 0.62 cents to 0.6954

The U.S. Dollar Index is up 0.50 points to 84.67

By Erik Kevin Franco, efranco@economicnews.ca; edited by Stephen Huebl, shuebl@economicnews.ca