💎 Fed’s first rate cut since 2020 set to trigger market. Find undervalued gems with Fair ValueSee Undervalued Stocks

FOREX-Euro hits 5-week high, yen up after stimulus announced

Published 02/08/2016, 06:08 pm
Updated 02/08/2016, 07:00 pm
© Reuters.  FOREX-Euro hits 5-week high, yen up after stimulus announced
USD/JPY
-
AUD/USD
-
SOGN
-
DX
-
DXY
-

* Euro above $1.12 for first time since Brexit vote

* Broadly negative tone for dollar continues

* Aussie up on day despite RBA interest rate cut

* Yen hits 3-week high after cabinet approves stimulus

By Patrick Graham

LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The euro rose above $1.12 for the first time in more than a month on Tuesday while a cut in Australian interest rates failed to weaken the Australian dollar as the fallout of poor GDP data continued to weigh on the U.S. currency.

The yen hit its strongest in three weeks, pushing past 102 yen per dollar for the first time since early July after Japan's cabinet approved a package of spending including 13.5 trillion yen in new fiscal measures. dollar has been sold steadily since surprisingly weak U.S. second-quarter growth numbers last week, and dealers said even some improvement in U.S. bond yields overnight had failed to turn that around.

"Basically the dollar is just being sold," said Alvin Tan, a strategist with Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) in London.

"We have had a moderate dollar uptrend until the end of last week, but the combination of the dovish Fed and surprisingly weak second quarter numbers have caused some profit taking."

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies .DXY =USD stood at 95.458, having fallen as low as 95.384 last week when it posted its biggest fall in three months.

Against the yen the dollar eased 0.6 percent to 101.70 yen JPY= . It was down 0.4 percent at $1.1203 per euro.

Weaker-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data on Monday added to a new bout of gloom over global growth. The influential Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) index of national factory activity dropped to 52.6 in July from 53.2 in June, below market expectations of 53.0. a result, futures markets now price in less than a 40 percent chance of an interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve by December.

While the Japanese stimulus should in theory carry with it the risk of inflation and rising domestic share prices - factors that should weaken the yen - there is little conviction in markets it will work.

Crucially, the Bank of Japan last week looked far from ready to weigh in and support the government programme with a crushing new round of yen printing - reflected in a rise in Japanese bond yields in the past few days.

If the Australian central bank had been looking for its own boost to exports by cutting interest rates and weakening the Aussie, it looked plain out of luck.

After some initial losses after the Reserve Bank cut rates by a quarter point, the Australian currency was up 0.4 percent on the day at $0.7561.

"There was a knee-jerk fall to 0.7495, but now we are actually trading up on the day," said Tobias Davis, head of corporate treasury sales at Western Union in London.

"The market had already priced in the cut, so adverse moves against the pair were limited. I'm sure the RBA was hoping for a stronger reaction, aiming to keep the country's exports competitive."

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ JGBs see worst sell-off in 3 years as BOJ policy doubts emerge

(Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.