New York Forex: Dollar Steadies as US Government Shutdown Nears End

As traders awaited fresh macroeconomic catalysts, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined, precious metals advanced, and most G-10 currencies traded within narrow ranges. The Australian dollar led the gains after the nation's central bank raised interest rates. As gold and silver prices rose, halting a two-day streak of significant declines, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell by 0.3%. The dollar held steady after the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Tuesday afternoon to end a partial government shutdown. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note was largely unchanged at 4.27%. The AUD/USD pair climbed 0.9% to 0.7008 after the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked rates by 25 basis points, a move that was in line with market expectations. Earlier, the Australian dollar had surged as much as 1.5% to 0.7050 against the U.S. dollar before paring some of those gains. The RBA's policy statement indicated that inflation is likely to remain above its target for some time, a remark that boosted the Aussie and bond yields. However, the upward momentum narrowed after Governor Michele Bullock stated at a press conference that the board would be as cautious with rate hikes as it had been when easing policy, causing the earlier gains to moderate. The USD/JPY pair recovered from losses, edging up 0.1% to 155.754. Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki stated that comments made by Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae over the weekend did not excessively emphasize the benefits of a weak yen. The NZD/USD pair advanced 0.7% to 0.643. Standard Chartered revised its trading recommendation to short the EUR/NZD pair after the exchange rate briefly touched its target of 1.95. Analyst Bader Al Sarraf indicated that the new trade has a target of 1.90, a stop-loss at 1.98, and an entry level of 2.038. The EUR/USD pair rose 0.1% to 1.1808. Influenced by falling energy prices, France's inflation rate unexpectedly slowed to a five-year low, falling well below the European Central Bank's 2% target. The GBP/USD pair increased 0.1% to 1.3681.