NEW YORK, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) — The U.S. dollar fell in late trade Monday, as investors awaited upcoming U.S. inflation and retail sales data.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.50 percent at 104.5659 in late trade.
The decline came in anticipation of this week’s crucial US inflation reading. Currency traders mostly positioned for US consumer price (CPI) data on Wednesday, given its potential influence on whether the Federal Reserve can put interest rates on hold.
Meanwhile, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank may end its negative interest rate policy once the achievement of its 2 percent inflation target is in sight, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Saturday, signaling possible rate hikes.
“When we are convinced that Japan will see a sustained increase in inflation accompanied by wage increases, there are various options we can take,” Ueda was quoted as saying.
The Japanese yen strengthened sharply against the dollar on Monday. “Comments from the Bank of Japan governor on interest rates triggered a rally risk across all foreign currencies, putting pressure on the dollar. That provided a slight tailwind for gold,” said Phillip Streible, chief market officer at Blue Line Futures.
The US dollar bought 146.4880 Japanese yen on Monday, down from 147.8240 Japanese yen in the previous session.
In late New York trading, the euro was up at US$1.0745 from US$1.0698 in the previous session, and the British pound rose to US$1.2509 from US$1.2453.
The US dollar fell to 0.8909 Swiss francs from 0.8933 Swiss francs and it fell to 1.3581 Canadian dollars from 1.3643 Canadian dollars. The US dollar fell to SEK 11.0756 from SEK 11.1251.
Source: sn.dk