⏳ Final hours! Save up to 60% OFF InvestingProCLAIM SALE

Forex - Dollar Hovering Near 2-Week Highs, Sterling Edges Higher

Published 19/08/2019, 08:01
© Reuters.
EUR/USD
-
GBP/USD
-
USD/JPY
-
USD/CNY
-
DX
-
US10YT=X
-

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was hovering near two-week highs against a currency basket on Monday as U.S. Treasury yields bounced back from recent lows amid hopes that major economies will seek to prop up slowing growth with fresh stimulus.

The U.S. dollar index, against a basket of six major currencies was at 98.05 by 03:01 AM ET (07:01 GMT), not far from the two-week high of 98.20 reached on Friday.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield stood at 1.57%, having pulled away from a three-year trough of 1.47% marked last week in the wake of global slowdown fears.

Falling yields last week caused the two-year/10-year Treasury curve to invert for the first since 2007, a phenomenon widely regarded as a recession signal that puts the Federal Reserve interest rate deliberations into focus.

"This week's main event is the Jackson Hole symposium and Fed Chairman (Jerome) Powell's speech," said Junichi Ishikawa, senior FX strategist at IG Securities in Tokyo.

Powell will deliver a speech on Friday at an annual meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

"What Powell has to say is in focus as the discrepancy remains between what he said on interest rates and what the markets have come to expect the Fed will do," Ishikawa said.

Powell said after the Fed lowered rates in July that the easing was not the start of a series of cuts. But market expectations for the Fed to cut rates by another 25 basis points at the next policy meeting in September have increased.

The euro was steady at 1.1092 while the British pound edged up 0.15% to 1.2166.

The dollar was little changed against the yen at 106.37.

The Chinese yuan was slightly lower after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not ready yet to make a trade with China.

Traders were also cautious ahead of the debut of China's new benchmark lending rate on Tuesday, which was announced at the weekend.

The People’s Bank of China on Saturday unveiled interest rate reforms to help lower borrowing costs for companies and support slowing growth, which has been hit by the trade war with the U.S.

--Reuters contributed to this report

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.