* Singapore widens trading band; currency at record high
* Dollar index touches year's low, world stocks gain
* Gold prices set for fifth consecutive weekly rise
By Jennifer Ablan and Carolyn Cohn
NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar index
hit the year's low and world stocks were higher on Thursday
after Singapore let its currency strengthen, spurring gains in
most major currencies against the struggling greenback.
The Australian dollar, which boasts the highest yield among
major currencies, soared to a 28-year high at $0.9994 <AUD=D4>
and poised to near parity.
Investors continued to dump the dollar against the backdrop
of Singapore's move and on rising expectations the Federal
Reserve will engage in another round of "quantitative easing"
-- effectively printing money to buy assets.
Gold prices, one of the market's favorite safe haven
securities, remained within 1 percent of the record high and
were still set for their fifth consecutive weekly rise.
Speculation of aggressive monetary action intensified
further after new U.S. claims for first-time jobless benefits
rose last week For details, see []
The Singapore dollar <SGD=> hit a record high after
Singapore, which is suffering from rising inflation, allowed
its trading band to widen, following a similar move this week
by the Russian central bank.
"Effectively the Singapore move is a tightening of policy
and it clearly shows Asian economies are at the opposite end of
the spectrum compared to the spare capacity in the U.S.
economy," said Chris Turner, head of FX strategy at ING.
Recent moves by emerging market powers such as Brazil and
Thailand to curb currency appreciation and a war of words among
global policymakers about foreign-exchange imbalances reflect a
lack of consensus ahead of a meeting of G20 financial ministers
and central bank governors next week in Gyeongju, Korea.
DOLLAR IN THE DUMPS
The dollar index <.DXY>, which tumbled 1 percent to its
weakest since December at 76.259, is on course to test
trendline support at 75.95, with its November low of 74.17 then
not far away.
The euro <EUR=> surged to a more than eight-month high of
$1.4123 on trading platform EBS. Against the Japanese yen, the
dollar was down 0.38 percent at 81.46 from a previous session
close of 81.770.
The currency markets weren't alone in stealing the
spotlight on Thursday. Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose $6.25, or
0.46 percent, to $1377.30.
Ashraf Laidi, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in
London, said that once the United States' second round of
quantitative easing "becomes the new normal, selling pressure
on the U.S. dollar could well ease as traders begin
anticipating the days of similar moves by the Bank of England
and the ECB."
In stocks, benchmark indexes were mixed in early New York
trading. The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 6.10
points, or 0.05 percent, at 11,102.18. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was down 0.39 points, or 0.03 percent, at
1,177.71 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 1.85
points, or 0.08 percent, at 2,443.08.
Most of the U.S. Treasury debt curve was down.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was
down 1/32, with the yield at 2.43 percent. The 2-year U.S.
Treasury note <US2YT=RR> was down 1/32, with the yield at 0.371
percent. The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond <US30YT=RR> was up
14/32, with the yield at 3.793 percent.
In energy and commodities prices, U.S. light sweet crude
oil <CLc1> rose 35 cents, or 0.42 percent, to $83.36 per barrel
and the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index <.CRB> was up 1.02 points,
or 0.34 percent, at 300.76.
(Additional reporting by Steven C. Johnson in New York;
Editing by Neil Stempleman)
