In the US today is celebrated the day commemorating Martin Luther King, so the American Stock Exchange does not work today. We continue to see a weakening in the reserve currency relative to other currencies and a decrease in the dollar index. Investors continue to sell the dollar and the recently-published data on lending and sales have accelerated this process. Against the backdrop of a weakened dollar, the Dow Jones took another historic high.
The European currency shows growth and has increased by 4 cents, and can continue to strengthen its position. In addition, after the information that Angela Merkel is close to finally forming a coalition the single currency broke the mark of 1.21 against the dollar. This week we expect speeched by members of the ECB in which we might hear about plans to tighten monetary policy in the future. The region's economy continues to recover, as the EUR/USD went up to a maximum of three years and is currently trading above $1.22.
We can also observe an increase in the price of oil, which has supported a number of currencies of countries with commodity-dependent economies. Oil prices approached three-year highs and today during the Asian session the Brent crude reached the level of $70 per barrel.