The dollar index held its ground on Thursday, with traders biding their time ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's Friday speech at the Jackson Hole global central bank symposium, seeking fresh clues on the trajectory of U.S. interest rates.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed, hovering near 1194.43, while the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note edged up 3 basis points to approximately 4.68%. In the lead-up to Warsh's high-stakes remarks, currency market participants are ramping up hedges to brace for potential further dollar strength.
The dollar advanced 0.1% against the yen to 159.45, marking a weekly gain of about 0.3% so far, as the Japanese currency weakened for a fourth consecutive session. Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino signaled an open stance on a possible rate hike next month, stopping short of pushing back against growing market expectations for tighter policy.
The Australian dollar climbed 0.4% to 0.7197 against its U.S. counterpart. Following red-hot inflation data down under, economists at major institutions, including Goldman Sachs and Commonwealth Bank of Australia, have revised their earlier projections of steady rates this year, now anticipating that the Reserve Bank of Australia could move to raise rates again as soon as next month.
The euro was largely unchanged at 1.1648. Minutes from the European Central Bank's latest meeting revealed that policymakers deliberated on whether a "moderately restrictive" monetary stance might be necessary to steer inflation back to the 2% target. Elsewhere, the dollar slipped 0.1% to 1.3857 against the Canadian dollar, while sterling dipped 0.1% to 1.3587.
Comments