By: Barbara Zigah
As market players finally acknowledge that the ECB, in all probability, will not be considering an interest rate increase anytime in the near future, the common currency Euro has fallen against the U.S. Dollar in Asian trading. As reported at 3:09 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Euro traded against the greenback at $1.3694, a .3% decline from late trading yesterday in New York. One currency strategist in Tokyo expects that the Euro will trade within a tight range, perhaps $1.35 to $1.38, in the short term, and believes that it is unlikely to meet or even move higher than this month’s earlier peak.
Attention is likely to refocus on the United Kingdom, where the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee will be concluding their meeting later today. An announcement is expected at 12:00 p.m. (GMT), and some investors are speculating that an interest rate hike might be in the making.
The British Pound was trading against the U.S. Dollar at $1.6100, a .2% gain; the currency is likely to slip lower, though, if the MPC does not take any action on interest rates. Analysts expect that the Bank of England will be among the first to hike interest rates, even ahead of the ECB.