Dollar up as Deutsche Bank woes spark run to safety

The dollar rose today as Deutsche Bank's woes sparked buying of safer currencies while a US economy upgrade boosted expectations for a rate hike.
Markets were spooked by a report that several hedge funds had withdrawn their investments in Germany's biggest lender over worries about its viability.
Those fears come after US authorities slapped the bank with a USD 14 billion penalty over its sale of mortgage-backed securities prior to the 2008 financial crisis.
There are growing concerns the fine could batter the already fragile company, fuelling talk that it would become another Lehman Brothers, the Wall Street titan whose downfall precipitated the global downturn.

Talk of a US rate hike -- a plus for the dollar -- increased after the US Commerce Department said yesterday the world's top economy grew 1.4 per cent in the second quarter, faster than the preliminary 1.1 per cent.
Federal Reserve Atlanta president Dennis Lockhart said the US central bank is nearing its goals of maximum employment and steady inflation close to two percent, while Kansas City Fed president Esther George said she supports tighter policy.

"The Fed speakers continue to try their absolute best to guide the market to increase pricing for December," Sam Lynton-Brown, a foreign-exchange strategist at BNP Paribas, told Bloomberg News.

In Tokyo, the dollar rose to 101.23 yen from 101.04 yen in New York late Thursday, while it also strengthened against riskier emerging currencies including the Indonesian rupiah, Thai baht and Malaysian ringgit.
The euro fetched USD 1.1218 and 113.56 yen, against USD 1.1223 and 113.40 yen in US trading.
Markets largely shrugged off weak Japanese economic data that showed weaker-than-expected household spending and another drop in consumer prices.