Living On A High: Currencies Near 10-Year High Against USD

Current struggles to finally leave the financial crisis behind have been acting as a break on the values of major currencies. This situation has been exploited by the developing countries, with many of them in a much stronger economic position and their currencies now reaching 10-year highs against the US dollar. Here, Benzinga lists 9 currencies currently racing against the US dollar. The Brazilian real (BRL) has fallen sharply after reaching its 10-year high against the dollar on August 1 2008, when it was valued at $0.6406. It has nonetheless regained most of its losses and is currently trading around $0.630, surging over 40% over the past 3 years. Some analysts are speculating that in spite of government attempts to bring it down, the real will remain strong for some time as foreign direct investments (FDI) pours into the country, increasing demand for the Brazilian currency. Brazil's southern neighbor – the Uruguayan peso (UYU) – is also trading at a 10-year high at 0.0528. The Uruguayan economy is struggling to control rising inflation and the government has increased interest rates in order to prevent the economy from overheating. The side effect was making holding the Uruguayan currency more desirable, ultimately pushing the peso upwards. The Uruguayan currency is steadily gaining ground on the US dollar from the beginning of the year, totaling a 5% increase in its value. Another Latin American currency reaching its 10-year peak is the Costa Rican colon (CRC). It currently buys $0.002. Since its low of $0.0017 on 18 September 2009 the colon has gained 17%. Many Asian currencies are doing really well against the US dollar as well. The Singapore dollar (SGD) has recently broken the $0.8 barrier, gaining over 10% from last year's levels. The Singapore currency is probably going to maintain its high value following a strong tightening of Singapore's monetary policy last week. The Malaysian ringgit (MYR) has also reached record heights recently, surpassing $0.331 mark. It has fallen slightly after China's central bank announced it will increase the reserve requirements for lenders. It is speculated that China's tightening policies are drawing investors away from the riskier currencies like the ringgit. The New Taiwan Dollar (TWD) has fallen a bit back after reaching a 10-year high against the US dollar on April 11, when it was trading at $0.0346. Its current level is 0.00344, still almost 2% higher than one month ago. It is not only the developing countries' currencies that are trading at a 10-year high. For the first time, the Australian dollar (AUD) has surpassed the value of its more famous American counterpart, currently trading at $1.0501. It has fallen from its high of $1.057 after the Chinese central bank tightened its belt but is still trading 5.5% higher than a month ago and 13.6% higher than a year ago. The US dollar is losing ground to the New Zealand dollar (NZD) as well. The Kiwi currency is approaching the $0.8 line, near its $0.8131 high reached back in March 2008. Currently it is trading at $0.7875, a rise of almost 8% over the last 30 days. Finally, the list of countries whose currencies are doing exceptionally well in comparison to the world's most important currency is concluded with the Swiss franc (CHF). The Swiss currency is considered to be a safe haven for the investors during times of uncertainty and the recent financial crisis has helped the franc surpass the American dollar in value and has recently broken the $1.2 line before being pushed back to $1.1118. This represents a rise of over 18% on a yearly basis.