The dollar contiues to come up short
The euro eased back down to $1.4136 late Wednesday, after hitting another high earlier, $1.4162, according to reports in The New York Times and BBC News.
The dollar hit a 15-year low Monday, according to the New York Times.
''Against currencies like the euro, we could be seeing the highs being put in about now,'' Bob Sinche, head of global foreign exchange strategy at Bank of America Corp., said. The market had been overreacting to recession fears, and investors' worries about growth have taken a back seat for the moment, he said, boosting the dollar. Some economists disagreed, however, taking slowed widespread demand for manufactured goods as a sign of a softening economy.
Also, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates last week by a bigger-than-expected half percentage point Lower interest rates are efforts used to jump start an economy and analysts predict more cuts for the near future.
Other bad news for the U.S., orders for durable goods, including things from washing machines to commercial jets, were down by 4.9 percent.