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FOREX-Dollar in demand as Fed hammers home December 'liftoff' risk

Published 05/11/2015, 10:01 am
Updated 05/11/2015, 10:10 am
© Reuters. FOREX-Dollar in demand as Fed hammers home December 'liftoff' risk
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* Dollar hits three-month highs vs currency basket

* Hawkish 'sound-bites' from Yellen send Treasury yields higher

* Sterling eyes 'Super Thursday'

By Ian Chua

SYDNEY, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The dollar stood at three-month highs against a basket of major currencies on Thursday following a jump in U.S. Treasury yields as Federal Reserve officials hammered home the message that a December "liftoff" in U.S. rates is a distinct possibility.

In her first public comments since the Fed's meeting last week, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday laid out what now appears the base case at the U.S. central bank - the country is ready for higher interest rates.

Driving home the point, William Dudley, the influential president of the New York Fed and a permanent voter on policy, later said the he would "completely agree" with Yellen: that December is a "live possibility" for raising rates.

Treasury yields jumped as a result with the two-year US2YT=RR reaching a high not seen since April 2011. That in turn helped the greenback break out of its 120.00-121.60 range against the yen JPY= , to reach a two-month high of 121.72 yen.

With the European Central Bank all but promising to go the other way - providing more policy stimulus - it is not surprising to see the euro slide to its lowest in over three months at $1.0843 EUR= . It last traded at $1.0868.

All that helped the dollar index .DXY scale a three-month peak of 98.054. At its current level of 97.871, it is still up more than 4 percent in three short weeks.

Yet, some analysts warned dollar bulls not to get too carried away in the lead-up to the U.S. monthly payrolls report.

"Clearly, however, the Fed remains data dependent and in the near term there is still risk of dollar disappointment around Friday's jobs report," analysts at BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) wrote in a research note to clients.

Commodity currencies were also swept aside in the dollar's broad-based rally. The Australian dollar dipped to $0.7151, pulling back from a one-week high of $0.7224.

Even upbeat comments on the economy from the head of the Reserve Bank of Australia failed to give the Aussie a lift.

Its New Zealand peer hit a one-month low of $0.6574 NZD=D4 .

Sterling also nursed modest losses against the greenback, slipping to $1.5382, from this week's high near $1.5500.

Traders are likely to tread cautiously on "Super Thursday", when the BoE releases its quarterly Inflation Report as well as an interest rate decision and the minutes from its latest Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

The BoE is expected to keep rates at historic lows, with most economists expecting only MPC hawk Ian McCafferty to continue to vote for an immediate hike. But some reckon another of the nine MPC members may join him. (Editing by G Crosse)

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