THE Singapore dollar hit a new high of just under $1.38 against the United States dollar yesterday as speculators kept dumping the greenback on US recession fears.

Just six months ago, it was about $1.51 to the US dollar.

This is good news for Singaporeans planning a holiday to the US - but it makes exports to the key US market more pricey.

At 4.30pm yesterday, data compiled by Bloomberg showed that the local currency briefly touched $1.3794 to the sliding greenback. This is a whisker stronger than the previous record of $1.3835 in May 1995.

Singapore is not alone. Most currencies are gaining against the US dollar, meaning the Sing dollar's rise against other currencies, such as the British pound, is more muted.

Yesterday, the US dollar fell to its weakest level since 1995 against the yen - 100.1 yen. It also fell to a record low of $1.5592 per euro, the weakest level since the European currency's 1999 debut.

Standard Chartered economist Alvin Liew said the Sing dollar is 'moving in line with regional currencies and is not strengthening more than, say, the ringgit or yen'.

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