NEW YORK: The dollar firmed against major currencies including the euro, yen and sterling on Tuesday amid market positioning ahead of a series of central bank meetings for fresh clues on the economic outlook and the path of interest rates.
The Federal Reserve is set to announce its latest policy decision on Wednesday, the European Central Bank is up on Thursday, and the Bank of Japan rounds out the week on Friday.
All three are expected to keep rates on hold, so the focus will be on any hints that policymakers give on their outlooks.
The dollar has also stabilized after it came under pressure following a selloff in high-flying AI stocks last week.
The euro was down 0.25 percent against the dollar at USD1.1144.
“The dollar has rebounded ahead of the Fed meeting and AI sentiment has stabilized a little bit after last week,” said Kevin Ford, FX and macro strategist at Convera.
“The dollar was caught in the crossfire last week as an extension of the equity distress, high oil prices and what’s happening with European fiscal stress coming from France. So I think what markets have done is to take a little bit of the pressure off the Fed to hike rates.”
The euro was on track to be the worst-performing developed-market currency in October, down 1.65 percent on the dollar, bruised by high energy costs, the volatility in French government bonds and worries about France’s fiscal position.
The single currency extended its fall slightly after the release of the ECB’s quarterly Bank Lending Survey, which showed the impact of its rate hikes becoming visible. If that trend continues, it could, at the margin, reduce pressure on the ECB to continue with rate hikes deep into next year.
Meanwhile, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the government stood ready to take decisive action in the currency market, reminding markets of its willingness to prop up its currency.
The yen was among the best-performing major currencies last week, strengthening around 0.75 percent on the dollar, its biggest weekly gain since early September, as AI jitters in the equity market spurred a rush into the currency.
The dollar was up 0.15 percent to 157.73 against the Japanese yen. Sterling weakened 0.16 percent against the dollar to USD1.3317.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.2 percent to 102.22.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Bank of Canada also announce their policy decisions on Wednesday, with both expected to raise interest rates.
The New Zealand dollar strengthened 0.33 percent versus the greenback to USD0.5699.
The Canadian dollar weakened 0.14 percent versus the greenback to CD1.404 per dollar.
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