The US dollar fell Wednesday to its lowest level in more than two and a half years against several currencies, such as the euro and the pound, the safe haven suffering from the appetite for risk which reigns in the market.

Around 8:00 p.m. GMT, the dollar fell 0.33% against the euro, to 1.2289 dollars for one euro, after hitting its lowest level since April 2018 at 1.2295 dollars. Since the start of 2020, the dollar was down 8.71%.

Against the British pound, the dollar lost 0.80% to 1.3611 dollars per pound (-2.67% since the start of the year).

The dollar index, which compares the greenback to other major currencies, also hit its lowest level since April 2018.

Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, continued its ascent on Wednesday and reached a new record, driven by market appetite for risk, after seeing its value almost quadruple since the start of the year. At 8:00 p.m. GMT, it reached an all-time high of $28,818.23, according to data compiled by the Bloomberg agency.

“Vaccines are coming and improving global growth prospects,” summarized Stephen Innes, analyst at Axi.

The UK became the first country to give the green light to the AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday, a boost for the vaccination campaign in the face of soaring Covid-19 cases.

The dollar is suffering from the market's appetite for risk.

According to Mr. Innes, the greenback's weakness "is likely to continue in 2021, unless the US Federal Reserve unexpectedly changes policy."

The Fed adopted a very loose monetary policy to boost the economy.

“Clearly, traders expect the year to start badly for the dollar,” commented Jeffrey Halley, analyst at Oanda. For him, the market underestimates "the risk represented by the two partial senatorial elections in Georgia".

If the Democrats win the elections, which will take place on January 5, they will have control of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the presidency, which would change the outlook for US fiscal policy.

Wednesday class Tuesday class

                    20:00 GMT 22:00 GMT

EUR/USD 1.2289 1.2249

EUR/JPY 126.90 126.87

EUR/CHF 1.0843 1.0831

EUR/GBP 0.9028 0.9071

USD/JPY 103.26 103.58

USD/CHF 0.8823 0.8843

GBP/USD 1.3611 1.3502