Market News

The U.S. Dollar edged up slightly against major currencies as investors speculate that statements made by officials of the G8 could cause oil prices to fall. The Dollar also benefited from better than expected U.S. job data and reduced expectations that the European Central Bank will further increase interest rates after last week’s increase of 25 basis points.

The U.S. Dollar dropped further against the Euro today in response to statement made by the Federal Reserve after the FOMC meeting, which suggests that the Federal Reserve may not aggressively hike interest rates towards year end. The FOMC decided to keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 2%, while acknowledging the presence of inflationary pressures in the economy.

Investors are waiting for the outcome of the FOMC meeting and the accompanying statement to assess the direction of interest rates. Consequently, the U.S. dollar traded in tight ranges in Tokyo on Wednesday against major currencies.

The U.S. Dollar traded mixed today against major currencies as the market’s attention is squarely fixed on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which will take place tomorrow.

The U.S. Dollar traded within narrow ranges against major currencies on Friday in Tokyo as investors are waiting for new leads prior to the release of the U.S. economic data today and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting which starts next week, Tuesday.

The U.S. Dollar again fell slightly against major currencies in mid-morning trading today in Sydney as investors’ are beginning to feel that the Federal Reserve will not hike interest rates this year.

In mid-morning trading today in Sydney, the U.S. Dollar traded mixed against major currencies as the tussle continues with respect to which of the central banks, i.e. the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European Central Bank, will aggressively fight inflation. Investors in the currency market remain divided on the short term direction of the U.S. currency following expectations that the central banks are not likely to hike rates in the near term.

The U.S. currency traded in narrow ranges on Tuesday against major currencies as investors’ expectations that the Federal Reserve Bank will hike interest rates soon started to wane. It appears that the recent weak U.S. economic data is influencing the Fed’s decisions to hike interest rates. Many analysts believe that the market has to scale back its expectations of any aggressive interest rate hike by the Fed in the months ahead.

The U.S. Dollar fell against the Euro in mid-afternoon trading in Asia because investors are speculating that the European Central Bank will increase its key interest rate next month, the first increase in a year. The market is anticipating that the ECB will hike its interest rate by 25 basis points or more, following comments made by ECB president, Jean-Claude Trichet, since July, to curb rising inflationary pressures in the Euro zone.

The U.S. Dollar fell against the Euro in mid-afternoon trading in Asia because investors are speculating that the European Central Bank will increase its key interest rate next month, the first increase in a year. The market is anticipating that the ECB will hike its interest rate by 25 basis points or more, following comments made by ECB president, Jean-Claude Trichet, since July, to curb rising inflationary pressures in the Euro zone.

In mid-morning trading in Sydney, the U.S. Dollar dropped slightly ahead of today’s release of the U.S. Consumer Price Index data for May. According to experts, the Consumer Price Index data will confirm foreign exchange traders’ view that interest rates will be hiked by the Federal Reserve before the year end.

The U.S. Dollar weakened against major currencies on Thursday in mid-morning trading in Sydney as traders reacted to a sharp decline on Wall Street on renewed worries about the U.S. economy and the rising oil prices.

Late on Monday, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve system, Ben Bernanke, signaled that it is very likely that U.S. interest rates will be hiked soon, to combat inflation. As a result of these comments, the U.S. currency gained against major currencies on Tuesday trading. In early morning trading on Wednesday in Sydney, the U.S. currency consolidated its gains against major currencies.

The U.S. Dollar rose sharply in late morning trading in Sydney following positive comments about the U.S. economy, made by Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank. His comments confirmed investors’ views that the Federal Reserve has ome to the end of its interest rate cutting exercise and would likely start hiking interest rates soon in an effort to cut inflation.

The U.S. Dollar gained against the Japanese Yen in early Monday morning trading in Tokyo, because of strong demand from Japanese importers and short-term traders who are worried about the surging cost of materials, including crude oil.