The Euro eased away from just shy of a 2-month peak versus the U.S. Dollar as FX players await the monetary policy decision of the European Central Bank expected later today. The U.S. Dollar, meanwhile, finally managed to swing momentum into positive territory and has been on firmer footing after having been under heavy sell pressure for the week. Analysts say that Janet Yellen’s Congressional testimony may have helped stabilize the greenback, although the Fed chief continued to state that the Fed’s intention was only to support the economy, but she did provide some hints of possible interest rate direction.
As reported at 11:54 a.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the EUR/USD traded at $1.3911, slipping from Tuesday’s high of $1.3952. The USD/JPY recovered and edged higher to 101.88 Yen, easing off a 3-week low of f101.43 Yen. The U.S. Dollar index also got a bounce, drifting higher to 79.234 .DXY, moving away from its 6-month trough at 79.060 .DXY.
Aussie Dollar Bounces on Labor Data
The Australian Dollar got a solid boost after the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced an unexpected improvement in employment figures with April’s seasonally adjusted Employment Changes reading at 14,200 against expectations of 6,750; March’s numbers were also revised higher. The AUD/USD pair was trading at $0.9366, edging away from a session high of $0.9377 but far removed from the day’s low of $0.9320.