Investing - The dollar was broadly higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, but gains were held in check ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting later in the trading day. During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD down 0.23% to 1.3385 in thin trade. Investors were awaiting the release of the minutes from the Fed’s July meeting later Wednesday for further indications as to when the central bank may start tapering its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program. Market sentiment has been hit by mounting expectations that the Fed may start to phase out stimulus measures, known as quantitative easing, as soon as next month. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said that the decision to start tapering will depend on whether economic data is strong enough. The pair was unchanged after a report by the National Association of Realtors said U.S. existing home sales rose to the highest level in three years in July. Existing home sales jumped 6.5% to a seasonally adjusted 5.39 million annual unit rate in July from June’s revised total of 5.06 million. Analysts had expected U.S. existing home sales to rise 1.6% to a 5.15 million annual unit rate. The dollar rose to session highs against the yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.39% to 97.64. The yen briefly moved higher against the dollar during the Asian session after Japan’s nuclear regulator said it wanted to raise the severity level of a radioactive water leak at the Fukushima plant from one to three on a scale that goes up to seven. The dollar was close to two-month lows against the pound, with GBP/USD gaining 0.13% to trade at 1.5687. Sterling found support after a report by the Confederation of British Industry showed that its industrial orders index rose to a two year high in August, boosting the outlook for the economic recovery. A report earlier showed that the U.K.’s public sector posted a deficit of GBP1.6 billion in July. It was the first deficit for the month of July, which usually shows a surplus due to tax payments, since 2010. The dollar was higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF climbing 0.32% to 0.9203. Elsewhere, the greenback was broadly higher against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD falling 0.55% to 0.9020, NZD/USD dropping 1.30% to 0.7875 and USD/CAD advancing 0.47% to 1.0442. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.32% to 81.20.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 16:13:44 +0000
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