Looks like a lot of ecomonics are fearing rise in interest rates in the near future, even after Fed's announced after a 2 day meeting that they will keep interest rates near zero for another 45 day period. This seems to have scared the stock market as well, since there's a heavy reaction on the increased US dollar value.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091217-711212.html