Currencies Overview: The Dollar Finds Support as Traders Look Forward to The European Central Meeting

The dollar found support on Tuesday, September 7th, as investors awaited the European Central Bank meeting and US data to learn about policy expectations, while the Australian dollar rose briefly after the Reserve Bank of Australia stuck to its plans to reduce bond purchases.

The US currency curbed the euro below the $1.19 level at $1.1872, while it settled against the yen at 109.79 per dollar and rose slightly against the Australian and New Zealand dollars by the end of the Asian session. The dollar index settled at 92.200.

The Reserve Bank of Australia stuck to its plans to scale back its bond purchases but said it would extend the time frame as the economy struggles with the coronavirus shutdown, which pushed the Australian currency to a short-lived rally to $0.7469 before falling back to a support level at 0.7420. dollar.

Traders say the next steps in currency markets may depend on the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday and then the next report on US jobs in October, after a weak reading last week likely postponed any announcement by the US Federal Reserve to taper.

The British pound slipped slightly to $1.3830 and the New Zealand dollar fell slightly to $0.7117.

China’s trade data in August was strong and supported the yuan, which is facing some pressure from rising expectations of monetary easing.

The Canadian dollar fell slightly to 1.2543 against its US counterpart today, but remains near its highest levels in several weeks. In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ether settled at $52,736 and $3,927, respectively.