Early trade in New York: Dollar inches lower

10 Jun, 2021

NEW YORK: The dollar was slightly weaker on Wednesday as investors focused on a European Central Bank meeting and the upcoming US consumer price index report to gauge the current pace of the economic recovery.

Both are due Thursday, and investors have adopted a wait-and-see attitude, leaving major currencies mostly range-bound recently.

With the ECB, investors will be watching for any clues of an imminent slowdown to its bond buying program.

The Canadian dollar rose against the greenback, which fell 0.2% to C$1.2087 in the wake of the BoC announcement.

The Bank of Canada on Wednesday left its key interest rate unchanged as expected, and said it would maintain its current policy of quantitative easing. It also reiterated its guidance that rates would remain unchanged until at least the second half of 2022. The dollar index fell 0.1% to 90.080, with the euro up 0.18% at $1.2193.

The dollar rose 0.1% against the yen to 109.61 yen, while sterling fell 0.3% to $1.4122.

Deutsche Bank’s Currency Volatility Index hit its lowest level since February 2020 on Tuesday, and sank further on Wednesday. The US dollar index was parked at 90.005.

Bitcoin recovered from a three-week low it hit on Tuesday when signs of institutional investor caution and regulatory attention drove selling. It was last up 4.1% at $34.805.

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