Currency exchange traded funds that track the euro, Japanese yen and Swiss franc moves against the U.S. dollar are among the few assets turning a positive return Monday as global markets plunged.
On Monday, the CurrencyShares Euro Currency Trust (NYSEArca: FXE) was up 1.8%, CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (NYSEArca: FXY) gained 2.7% and CurrencyShares Swiss Franc Trust (NYSEArca: FXF) was 1.3% higher. All three currency ETFs are now back above their 200-day simple moving averages.
Meanwhile, the PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Index Bullish Fund (NYSEArca: UUP) dipped 1.5%, trading well below its 200-day simple moving average. [Dollar ETFs Languish as Fed Hike Seen Delayed]
While U.S. equities plunged Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off more than 1,000 points in early trading, the franc, yen and euro currencies were performing on the “flight to safety,” reports Jenny Cosgrave for CNBC.
“It (the euro) has certainly been behaving with safe haven qualities,” Senior foreign exchange strategist at Rabobank, Jane Foley, told CNBC. “The market has been cutting these massive euro shorts that they built up from July of last year and all the way into March. And those shorts are around about half of the size they were in March.”
Wall Street analysts are also growing bullish on some foreign currencies, notably the euro due to the improve economic conditions across the Eurozone.
“I think that the boost of competitiveness to Europe, plus the fall in oil prices, plus structural reforms, have meant that people have taken another look at the fundamentals and decided that some of the European countries are doing much better,” fund manager and founding partner at THS partners, Cato Stonex, told CNBC.
The Japanese yen was the largest winner against the U.S. dollar as the currency was on pace to record its best daily appreciation against the greenback since the financial crisis, according to MarketWatch.
The yen was trading up about 2.5% to about ¥118.96 per dollar after rising to as such as ¥116.96 to the dollar its highest intraday level since February.
International investors have traditionally turned to these safe-haven currencies during times of market turmoil because of the countries’ historically low interest rates, along with their stable government and financial systems.
CurrencyShares Euro Currency Trust
For more information on the foreign exchange markets, visit our currency ETFs category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.