The U.S. Dollar regained earlier traction after falling against the Japanese Yen to its lowest price in nearly a month which came about as investor concerns over global growth began to escalate. A recent across-the-board selloff in equities has raised the debate on the dollar’s valuation with many critics calling for the Federal Reserve to step back from their rhetoric regarding a possible interest rate hike even as other central banks, including the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, are in the process of at least considering additional liquidity to pump up their respective economies.
As reported at 7:51 a.m. (BDT) in London, safe haven demand sent the USD/JPY and USD/CHF higher, but both pairs eased down; the USD/JPY was earlier trading at 107.180 Japanese Yen, up from 106.7950 Yen, while the USD/CHF was trading at 0.9550 Swiss Francs, moving away from the session low of 0.9481 Swiss Francs. The EUR/USD is currently lower at $1.2647.
UK Data Disappoints
In the U.K., the Pound Sterling was under pressure overnight after the release of some disappointing economic indicators, including the very important retail sales, which indicated growth concerns in the U.K., as well. Falling CPI, below expectations, is also likely to increase the argument that the Bank of England put a rate hike on the back burner. The GBP/USD was lower at 1.5948, which has thus far been the low of the day.