By: Barbara Zigah
As reported at 8:23 a.m. (BST) in London, the U.S. Dollar held steady versus the Pound Sterling and the single currency Euro, staying close to multi-month lows while investors take a wait-and-see approach to policy decisions expected from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank (ECB). Analysts expect that both central banks will leave their key interest rates unchanged; currently at 1.0% at the ECB and .5% at the Bank of England. The U.S. Dollar traded at $1.4401 versus the Euro, nearing $1.4448, the lowest price of the year on the EBS trading platform touched on yesterday. The greenback also held steady against the Pound Sterling, trading at $1.6989, near the 9-month low touched on yesterday.
The U.S. Dollar did better against both the Australian and New Zealand dollars following the release of better-than-expected labor data from Australia which showed that more than 32,000 jobs were created last month, and which was significantly more than analysts had expected, setting the stage for a near-term rate increase. Conversely, in New Zealand, the jobless rate was higher than analysts had predicted, climbing to 6% for the quarter ending in June. The Australian Dollar slipped to $0.8437, a loss of .4%, while the New Zealand Dollar lost .3% to trade at $0.6713.