By Tom Westbrook SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar made small but broad gains on Tuesday and held a resurgent euro at bay as traders awaited U.S. inflation data, wary it could unleash bets on faster interest rate hikes. The common currency leapt 2.7% last week after a hawkish shift in tone at the European Central Bank. […]
By Tom Westbrook
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar made small but broad gains on Tuesday and held a resurgent euro at bay as traders awaited U.S. inflation data, wary it could unleash bets on faster interest rate hikes.
The common currency leapt 2.7% last week after a hawkish shift in tone at the European Central Bank.
But it has been unable to breach resistance around $1.1483 and eased by 0.2% to $1.1418 during the Asia session. The dollar edged 0.3% higher to 115.43 yen , helped by five and 10-year Treasury yields ticking to more than two-year highs.
Stunningly strong U.S. labour data last week has put extra focus on inflation – forecast at a four-decade high 7.3% – in the lead up to March’s Federal Reserve meeting.
Futures markets are pricing an almost 1-in-3 chance of a 50 basis point rate rise and the prospect of aggressive hikes has been supporting the dollar.
“The surprise beat by the non-farm payroll numbers (which we were warned by Fed officials and the White House would be very weak due to Omicron) leaves the Fed in an unexpected territory,” said NatWest Markets rates strategist Jan Nevruzi.
“The CPI will be critical on how the narrative develops until the March (meeting),” he said, though adding that barring a big surprise, March will probably bring only a 25 basis points hike.
The U.S. dollar index rose 0.2% to 95.613.
On Monday, bitcoin and the Australian dollar had posted gains as equity markets rallied in Europe, but the latter was a bit softer on Tuesday as a cautious mood prevailed in Asia.
The Aussie fell 0.2% to $0.7109. [AUD/]
Bitcoin punched through its 50-day average to top $44,000 for the first time in nearly a month on Monday and held there in Asia for a gain of more than 17% in four sessions.
The New Zealand dollar was marginally softer at $0.6630. Sterling eased 0.2% to $1.3514.
A quiet data calendar awaits on Tuesday, with a U.S. small business survey due later in the day. U.S. inflation data is due on Thursday.
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Currency bid prices at 0546 GMT
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar
$1.1419 $1.1442 -0.20% +0.44% +1.1448 +1.1418
Dollar/ Yen
115.4400 115.1050 +0.23% +0.31% +115.4750 +115.1900
Euro/ Yen
131.82 131.68 +0.11% +1.15% +132.0000 +131.5900
Dollar/Swiss
0.9251 0.9235 +0.18% +1.43% +0.9252 +0.9228
Sterling/Dollar
1.3514 1.3535 -0.16% -0.08% +1.3538 +1.3513
Dollar/Canadian
1.2694 1.2667 +0.22% +0.41% +1.2701 +1.2666
Aussie/Dollar
0.7111 0.7126 -0.20% -2.17% +0.7138 +0.7107
NZ
Dollar/Dollar 0.6631 0.6635 -0.05% -3.11% +0.6654 +0.6631
All spots
Tokyo spots
Europe spots
Volatilities
Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ
(Reporting by Tom Westbrook. Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
