The dollar stabilised on Friday and major currency pairs were stuck within recent ranges as markets shrugged off Thursday’s high U.S. inflation number, believing the Federal Reserve’s stance that it is likely to be a temporary blip. U.S. consumer prices rose 5% year-on-year in May, the biggest jump in nearly 13 years. Currency markets had been sluggish all week in anticipation of the data, but when it came in above expectations, there was little market reaction. The Federal Reserve has repeatedly said that it expects any rise in inflation to ...

After a week of anxious waiting, markets got the high U.S. inflation number they dreaded, then shrugged it off and moved on – leaving the U.S. dollar under pressure and most majors stuck in ranges. Early in the Asia session the greenback nursed small losses, as traders figured there were enough one-offs in last month’s 0.6% rise in consumer prices to support the Federal Reserve’s insistence that inflation was likely to be transitory. The dollar bought 109.44 yen JPY=EBS and was headed for a small weekly loss. It was also ...

The dollar hovered near a five-month low versus major peers on Thursday as investors looked to U.S. inflation data and a European Central Bank meeting later in the day, while an index of volatility among major currencies dropped to new lows. Investors have adopted a wait-and-see attitude all week, sucking volatility from the market and leaving major currencies mostly range-bound. The dollar index has fluctuated narrowly around the psychologically important 90 level, and was last at 90.206 – not too far from last month’s low of 89.533, a level not ...

The dollar clung on to its recent small gains on Wednesday as traders looked to upcoming U.S. inflation data and a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting to gauge the pace of global recovery and policymakers’ thinking about paring back stimulus. Investors have piled up bets against the dollar, but are growing nervous about whether the beginning of the end of enormous monetary stimulus is nigh – and worry that interest rate rises could end a 15-month dollar downtrend. Some think tapering could be hastened, and the dollar boosted, if U.S. ...

New bank loans in China likely fell in May, a Reuters poll showed, as the central bank gradually scales back pandemic-driven stimulus to reduce debt and financial risks as the economy shows solid signs of recovery. Chinese banks are estimated to have issued 1.41 trillion yuan ($220.54 billion) in net new yuan loans last month, down from 1.47 trillion yuan in April, according to the median estimate in the survey of 29 economists. That would be lower than 1.48 trillion yuan issued the same month a year earlier, when policymaking ...

The U.S. dollar found support on Tuesday as investors looked to U.S. inflation data due later in the week after softer-than-expected jobs data eased but did not dispel concerns about early tapering of the Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus. The euro fetched $1.2178 EUR=EBS, a bounce back from a three-week low of $1.2104 set on Friday, but slightly below its 20-day moving average. The dollar also crept back through its 20-DMA against the yen, and rose 0.15% to 109.42 yen JPY=EBS. The dollar’s index against a basket of six major currencies ...

China’s foreign exchange reserves, the world’s largest, rose more than expected in May, official data showed on Monday, as the U.S. dollar weakened. The data showed China’s foreign exchange reserves rose $23.62 billion to $3.22 trillion last month, compared with $3.208 trillion seen in a Reuters poll of analysts and $3.198 trillion in April. Foreign inflows into Chinese stocks and bonds have been strong as China gallops ahead of other major economies in its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The yuan rose 1.6% against the dollar in May, while the ...

Emerging market strategists were cautiously optimistic that the sector’s commodity-linked currency rally would continue in coming months, but a much slower pace of vaccine rollouts will keep high-yield seekers nervous, a Reuters poll found on Friday. One-third of 45 strategists in the May 28-June 3 Reuters poll said the rally in commodity-related emerging market currencies would continue for six months while 14 said it would last up to a year. A delicate split emerged among strategists predicting mild long or short EMFX positions in the next six months, with a ...

The dollar edged up as European markets opened on Monday, recovering from Friday’s drop on U.S. jobs data which was below expectations. The jobs data was seen as a relief for markets because it showed a pick-up in job growth was not strong enough to raise expectations for the U.S. Federal Reserve to tighten its monetary policy any sooner, hurting the dollar. There was little risk appetite in currency markets in early trading, as equities dipped amid caution in global markets ahead of U.S. inflation data and the European Central ...

China is likely to lean on incremental steps to slow the yuan’s gains to deter speculators and help its exporters, shunning drastic measures that could undermine its goal to liberalise the currency and boost the yuan’s global clout, policy sources said. The yuan has gained almost 12% against the dollar since May 2020 as China leads other economies in its recovery from COVID-19 and the greenback weakens, though it has been driven more recently by foreign fund inflows into yuan-denominated bonds and stocks. But it slipped more than 0.5% this ...

The dollar index held near a three-week high on Friday and moves in currency markets were muted as traders waited for closely-watched U.S. non-farm payrolls data later in the session. Currency investors are looking for indications of the strength of the U.S. economic recovery and the possibility of the Federal Reserve tightening its monetary policy, which is seen as positive for the dollar. The consensus forecast for the data, due at 1230 GMT, is that about 650,000 jobs have been added in May. The dollar rallied on Thursday, notching up ...

A mountain of dollars on deposit in China has grown so large that banks are struggling to loan the currency and traders say it poses a risk to official efforts to control a fast-rising yuan. Boosted by surging export receipts and investment flows, the value of foreign cash deposits in China’s banks leapt above $1 trillion for the first time in April, official data shows A previous jump, late in 2017, preceded heavy dollar selling which turbocharged a steep yuan rally in early 2018. Market participants say the size of ...

The U.S. dollar rose on Thursday as traders awaited a batch of U.S. economic data that could set the tone at central bank meetings later this month. Investors have bet on the dollar falling as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have lately grown nervous over whether a surprisingly strong U.S. economic rebound poses a threat to the assumption that interest rates will stay low for a long time. The mood has kept speculators from adding much to short positions in recent weeks and has put the ...

The dollar clung to minor gains on Wednesday, edging up from near a five-month trough versus major peers, as a pick up in U.S. manufacturing kept bets alive for a quicker normalisation of Federal Reserve policy. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rivals, hovered just below 90 after dipping to as low as 89.662 on Tuesday and approaching the lowest since Jan. 7 at 89.533. The euro traded at $1.22 after pulling back from near a multi-month top overnight, when it climbed to $1.22545. Investors were also ...

The pound edged lower on Tuesday after touching a fresh three-year high versus the dollar as investors took some profit off the table and turned more cautious amid fears around the spread of COVID variants in Britain. Sterling hit its highest level since April 2018 of $1.4250 during the Asian session against the dollar, with analysts attributing it to positive global investor sentiment towards the UK economic recovery. Well into the London session after a long weekend, sterling reversed its course to edge 0.2% lower at $1.4182 versus the dollar ...