The Dollar rose against its main currency pairs in yesterday’s trading while Wall Street recorded some big losses. The Dow Jones dived by a massive 250 points, reaching a 12-year low. This came about after federal authorities released information about the possibility of taking stakes in top U.S. banks. It is important to note that bank shares, such as those of Citigroup and Bank of America, increased as Barack Obama reassured investors that banks will remain in private hands.

The USD made large gains against the EUR as it climbed about 185 points versus the European currency to close at 1.2724. Against the JPY, the USD gained about 200 points to finish trading at 94.96. The USD, however, lost 31 points against the GBP to close at 1.4547.

One reason for the Dollar’s gains was due to investors viewing the currency as a safe-haven. This is likely to continue in the coming months as the recession continues to destabilize the global economy. The JPY and EUR weakness against the Dollar yesterday can be explained by pointing to negative data coming from these 2 regional markets. Also, the JPY is starting to be considered as less of a safe-haven than the USD. Furthermore, European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet spoke about the intensification and severity of the recession as it hit all sectors of the Euro-Zone economy in recent weeks.

Looking ahead to today, the 2 main news events coming out of the U.S. are the release of U.S. CB Consumer Confidence figures. This will be important in determining the Dollar’s value later in today’s trading. It is important to take into account, as we have seen of late, even if the news from the U.S. is negative, it may even help lead to Dollar bullishness as investors continue to seek the safe-haven U.S. currency in the current recession.