Noor Trends News, Technical Analysis, Educational Tools and Recommendations
Friday, June 18th, the dollar is set to record its best weekly performance in nearly 9 months as investors raced to consider an end to US monetary stimulus sooner than expected in the days following a sudden shift in the US Federal Reserve’s tone.
Since Wednesday, when US central bank officials predicted possible interest rate increases in 2023, the dollar has gained about 1.8% against the euro and more than 2% against its Australian counterpart and the negative-yielding franc as short-selling currency borrowers scrambled to close their positions.
The dollar index rose above its 200-day moving average, to reach its highest level in more than two months at 92.010, and is heading towards achieving a weekly gain of 1.6%, which is the largest since last September.
The Australian and New Zealand currencies fell in Asian trading today, while most of the other major currencies were flat. The euro settled just over a two-month low of $1.1914.
The Australian dollar hit its lowest level since December at $0.7521 today and the New Zealand dollar fell to its lowest level since April at $0.6982, in defiance of very positive reports on jobs in Australia and growth in New Zealand issued this week.
The dollar is also set to rise 0.5% against the yen. The yen settled at 110.25 per dollar, after hitting an 11-week low of 110.82 on Thursday, little changed as the Bank of Japan kept its main policy steady as expected.
The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3900 and is heading towards incurring a weekly loss of 1.5%.
