Dollar Eases as Uncertainty Gains Traction
In the early trading session in Asia, the US Dollar eased away from earlier highs against the Japanese Yen and looks to post a loss for the week as uncertainty grows regarding the Fed’s monetary policy. Yesterday, the greenback had appreciated on news that weekly US crude oil inventories had unexpectedly declined which lifted spot oil prices and raised expectations of higher inflation. Together, that gave Dollar bears some newfound hope that the Fed might consider an interest rate increase sooner than expected, in spite of recent disappointing data.
As reported at 10:25 (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY pair was trading at 102.112 yen, down 0.27%, the pair had earlier hit a peak of 102.4900 Yen. The GBP/JPY was also lower at 136.05 Yen, down 0.97%; the Pound was under pressure after Mark Carney’s recent comments. The Bank of England is still weighing the possibility of additional easing in the aftermath of the Brexit vote.
Euro Steady Following ECB Announcement
The common currency Euro had earlier steadied on news that the European Central Bank was leaving policy unchanged. The head of the ECB, Mario Draghi, told investors that the policymakers hadn’t discussed the issue of expanding the QE program at this time. Draghi said that the bank’s current actions, viewed as both orthodox and unorthodox, were effective. Currently, the EUR/JPY is lower at 115.1629 Yen, down 0.187%.