Dollar Trades Stronger Against Major Currencies
The US dollar was stronger against its major trading currencies, partners early Monday, apart from the Canadian dollar, as the US schedule lightens up before next week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
With Federal Reserve officials in their quiet period this week, the focus will be on Thursday’s consumer price release for February, which is expected to show continuing inflation pressures. The only data scheduled for release on Monday is the Fed’s consumer credit data for January.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, business and consumer confidence data will be released on Tuesday, followed by the monthly JOLTS report on Wednesday, initial jobless claims and the US Treasury’s budget on Thursday, and the preliminary Michigan Sentiment reading for March on Friday.
A quick summary of foreign exchange activity heading into Monday shows that USD-JPY rose to 115.0822 from 114.8529 at the Friday US close but was below the 115.3687 level at the same point Friday morning.
There are no Japanese data scheduled for Monday, so the focus is on GDP on Wednesday, inflation data on Thursday, and consumer spending figures on Friday. The Bank of Japan meets on March 17-18.
USD-CAD fell modestly to 1.2713 from 1.2729 at the Friday US close and from 1.2747 at the same point on Friday. There are no Canadian data scheduled for release on Monday, so markets will focus on the monthly labour force survey for February on Friday.
After a 25-basis point rate increase last week, Bank of Canada officials suggested it may be necessary to raise interest rates further at future meetings, perhaps even by 50-basis points at once at a future meeting.
EUR-USD fell to 1.0864 from 1.0932 at the Friday US close and 1.0982 at the same point Friday morning. German retail sales and factory orders both beat expectations when they were released earlier Monday.
The focus for the week is on the European Central Bank’s monetary policy meeting on Thursday, where members will be balancing the effects of surging inflation with the situation in Ukraine. Prior to that, EU employment and GDP will be released on Tuesday.
GBP-USD fell to 1.3172 from 1.3233 at the Friday US close and 1.3283 at the same point Friday morning. UK home prices continued to surge in February according to data released Monday. Markets are expecting a 25-basis point increase at the March 17 Bank of England meeting. READ: CBN Approves Release of Excess Cash Reserve Ratio to Banks
# Dollar Trades Stronger Against Major Currencies
