Asian Session – Euro gains ahead of ECB, dollar mixed after FOMC
January 9, 2014 8:22 am
The much-anticipated FOMC minutes late on Wednesday was a non-event and did not result in any strong moves for the US dollar as had been expected by some market participants.
The minutes of the last Federal Reserve policy meeting in December did not reveal anything new and was more of a repeat of what Fed Chief Ben Bernanke said in a press conference following the policy meeting on December 18 when the Fed announced its decision to begin tapering.
The dollar was mixed during the Asian session, making some minimal gains against the yen but losing ground against the euro.
A key risk event for the dollar will be Friday’s all-important non-farm payrolls report. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the ADP jobs report showed a larger-than-expected increase in jobs in December. Private payrolls rose 238,000 beating forecasts of a 200,000 increase. Weekly jobless claims will be in focus later today.
The dollar finished the Asian session with a 0.06% gain to 104.89 while against the euro, the dollar ended down 0.14% at 1.3593.
The euro gained against the yen to 142.61, up 0.19%. The European Central Bank’s first policy meeting of the year is scheduled later in the trading day and the euro’s gains may be capped ahead of this key risk event.
Expectations are for the ECB to keep the main interest rate at 0.25%. However, ECB Chief Mario Draghi’s press conference after the meeting will be closely watched as it can cause volatility in the markets.
The Bank of England is also holding a policy meeting today. Sterling rose 0.07% in Asia to 1.6459.
The Aussie dropped 0.3% to 0.8873 despite data showing Australian retail sales rose more-than-forecast in November. However, building approvals declined.
The much-anticipated FOMC minutes late on Wednesday was a non-event and did not result in any strong moves for the US dollar as had been expected by some market participants.
The minutes of the last Federal Reserve policy meeting in December did not reveal anything new and was more of a repeat of what Fed Chief Ben Bernanke said in a press conference following the policy meeting on December 18 when the Fed announced its decision to begin tapering.
The dollar was mixed during the Asian session, making some minimal gains against the yen but losing ground against the euro.
A key risk event for the dollar will be Friday’s all-important non-farm payrolls report. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the ADP jobs report showed a larger-than-expected increase in jobs in December. Private payrolls rose 238,000 beating forecasts of a 200,000 increase. Weekly jobless claims will be in focus later today.
The dollar finished the Asian session with a 0.06% gain to 104.89 while against the euro, the dollar ended down 0.14% at 1.3593.
The euro gained against the yen to 142.61, up 0.19%. The European Central Bank’s first policy meeting of the year is scheduled later in the trading day and the euro’s gains may be capped ahead of this key risk event.
Expectations are for the ECB to keep the main interest rate at 0.25%. However, ECB Chief Mario Draghi’s press conference after the meeting will be closely watched as it can cause volatility in the markets.
The Bank of England is also holding a policy meeting today. Sterling rose 0.07% in Asia to 1.6459.
The Aussie dropped 0.3% to 0.8873 despite data showing Australian retail sales rose more-than-forecast in November. However, building approvals declined.
Related Posts: