The US$ hit a 5 month low against a basket of major currencies on Friday and the euro rose above US$1.41 for the first time this year as investors bought higher-yielding currencies and assets on hopes of a global economic recovery. Sterling approached US$1.62, almost an 8 month high, and capped its best month since 1985, while data showing the US economy shrank less than expected in the first quarter lifted global stocks and dulled the dollar’s safe-haven allure. Concern about the expanding amount of debt needed to fund a record US$1.8T US budget deficit added to dollar woes this week and put the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield en route to its biggest 2 month spike since 2004. Those worries amplified a report that South Korea’s National Pension Service intends to reduce exposure to US government bonds and equities in its 5 year portfolio. “There’s a visceral concern about the debasement of the US currency because the United States has a lot of debt to finance” and may have to print more money to do it, said Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut
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