Market News

With the likelihood that the Federal Reserve’s FOMC will maintain monetary policy with ultra low interest rates for an extended period, the U.S. Dollar Index traded at a 7-week trough during the Asian session, extending June’s decline.

During the Asian trading session, the U.S. Dollar languished close to a 1-month trough after suffering from the largest weekly fall in two months as a result of disappointing economic data pushed investors to the sidelines and dampened the greenback’s allure.

Get the trading schedule information for the upcoming July 4th holiday here.

In lackluster trading and as investors focused on currencies with higher yields, the New Zealand Dollar managed to carve out gains and then hovered close to a 3-year peak.

The U.S. Dollar Index remained within striking distance of a 1-month trough after news that first quarter growth figures for the U.S. economy came back with a downward revision.

Surprising markets with a more dovish stance than expected, Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, said recently that the United Kingdom’s economy still had excess slack which needed to be considered before there could be any changes to monetary policy.

Commodity-linked currencies such as the Canadian, New Zealand and Australian Dollars benefited from a recently released report which showed that the factory sector in China accelerated for the first time since the end of last year with new orders unexpectedly surging, an indication to investors that Chinese growth may again be on the verge of accelerating.

Asian stocks and the Australian dollar rose on Monday as upbeat news from China's factory sector and fresh highs on Wall Street fueled investor appetite for riskier assets. Crude oil held near nine-month highs as fighting in Iraq intensified.

Global stocks reached near record highs on Friday as markets betted monetary policy would remain loose in the United States, Europe and Japan for quite a while to come. Get the news for June 20, 2014 here.

In spite of the Fed’s recent rhetoric which led investors to believe that the U.S. central bank was poised to take up a more hawkish bias, the Federal Reserve yesterday failed to follow through, indicating instead that interest rates would remain at their current historic lows for the near term.

The U.S. Dollar maintained recent gains after an across the board strengthening which came after inflation data showed a large and surprise increase which sparked investor speculation that the Fed may be closer to considering raising interest rates.

Wary investors gave the U.S. Dollar some minimal support but for the most part exercised caution as the monetary policy decision of the Federal Reserve Bank looms large. Get the full news analysis for June 17, 2014 here.

The U.S. Dollar edged lower against the Japanese Yen, following the trend in Japan’s equity markets which have fallen about 0.6%. Get the full news analysis for June 16, 2014 here.

The U.S. Dollar inched up versus the Japanese Yen during Friday’s Asian trading session but investors says that the greenback remains subdued as they ponder what the Federal Reserve’s next move might be given recent economic data.

Asian shares fell on Thursday, June 12, 2014 while growing violence in Iraq supported oil prices. Japan's Nikkei share average (.N225) led the retreat, falling 0.8 percent while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.4 percent.