U.S. Dollar Falls Against Majors
April 01 2015 - 2:43AM
RTTF2
The U.S. dollar weakened against most other major currencies in
the Asian session on Wednesday, as traders bet that the Federal
Reserve is likely to raise interest rates slowly.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said last Friday an interest
rate hike may well be warranted later this year but stressed that
any increase in interest rates would be gradual.
"With continued improvement in economic conditions, an increase
in the target range for that rate may well be warranted later this
year," Yellen said at San Francisco Fed conference.
Traders are closely awaiting for the monthly U.S. non-farm
payroll report, due on April 3, for clues on the timing of a rate
increase.
The ADP National Employment Report is slated to release the U.S.
private sector employment data later in the day. The U.S. private
sector employment data may give some clues to Friday's non-farm
payroll report.
In a speech to the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce, U.S.
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker stated
that a strong case can be made for an increase in interest rates
relatively soon.
Lacker said he believes a strong case can be made for an
increase in interest rates relatively soon. Lacker said the Fed's
June meeting will likely be an appropriate time to raise rates,
arguing that recent signs of economic weakness are transitory and
due to the rough winter weather.
Tuesday, the U.S. dollar rose against its major rivals. The U.S.
dollar rose 0.93 percent against the euro, 0.69 percent against the
Swiss franc and 0.10 percent against the yen.
In the Asian trading today, the U.S. dollar fell to 2-day lows
of 1.2644 against the Canadian dollar and 1.4871 against the pound,
from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.2682 and 1.4813, respectively.
If the greenback extends its downtrend, it is likely to find
support around 1.23 against the loonie and 1.51 against the
pound.
Pulling away from an early near 2-week high of 0.7439 against
the NZ dollar, the greenback edged down to 0.7489. At yesterday's
close, the pair was trading at 0.7460. On the downside, 0.77 is
seen as the next support level for the greenback.
Against the euro, the Swiss franc and the Australian dollar, the
greenback edged down to 1.0791, 0.9628 and 0.7662 from yesterday's
closing quotes of 1.0730, 0.9719 and 0.7605, respectively. The
greenback may test support near 1.13 against the euro, 0.92 against
the franc and 0.79 against the aussie. Looking ahead, PMI reports
for March from major European economies are due in the European
session.
In the New York session, U.S. ADP private sector employment
data, U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI and Canada RBC manufacturing PMI-
all for March are slated for release.
At 9:00 am ET, U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
President John Williams will participate in a panel discussion
titled "Financial Stability: How Essential Financial Stability be
to Central Banks?" at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's
financial markets conference "Central Banking in the Shadows:
Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Post crisis," in Stone
Mountain.
About an hour and a half later, at the same conference in Stone
Mountain, U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis
Lockhart will participate in a panel discussion titled "Monetary
Policy: Will the Traditional Banking Channel Remain Central to
Monetary Policy?".
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