Investing.com - The dollar fell to session lows against the yen on Monday following comments by a senior Federal Reserve official, while the euro extended losses after remarks by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar hit session lows against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.63% to 98.73.
The dollar weakened after New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley defended the central bank’s decision to keep its stimulus program unchanged last week, in comments on Monday.
Dudley said that adjustments to the Fed’s USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program "need to be anchored in an assessment of how the economy is actually performing”.
“The economy still needs the support of a very accommodative monetary policy,” Dudley added.
The Fed said last week that it wanted to see more evidence of a sustained economic recovery before it adjusted the scale of its bond buying program. The decision surprised markets, which had been expecting a modest reduction to the stimulus program.
Elsewhere, the euro fell to session lows against the dollar, with EUR/USD down 0.21% to 1.3493.
The euro weakened after Draghi said the ECB is ready to launch a third round of Long Term Refinancing Operations if necessary. The comments came during testimony about the economy before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs in Brussels.
The single currency hit intra-day lows earlier after data showed that manufacturing output in the euro zone was weaker than expected this month, but this was offset by an improvement in service sector activity.
Demand for the euro continued to be underpinned after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party won general elections on Sunday, securing her a historic third term in office. Political party leaders were due to meet later Monday to discuss coalition talks.
The pound pulled back from session highs against the dollar, with GBP/USD up 0.18% to 1.6034, after rising as high as 1.6072 earlier.
The dollar was little changed against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF inching up 0.04% to 0.9111.
Elsewhere, the greenback was slightly lower against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD advancing 0.48% to 0.9441, NZD/USD edging up 0.08% to 0.8368 and USD/CAD sliding 0.13% to 1.0293.
The Australian dollar was boosted after data released on Monday showed that the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing index rose to a six-month high of 51.2 in September, up from 50.1 in August.
Economists had forecast a reading of 50.9.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.08% to 80.60.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar hit session lows against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.63% to 98.73.
The dollar weakened after New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley defended the central bank’s decision to keep its stimulus program unchanged last week, in comments on Monday.
Dudley said that adjustments to the Fed’s USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program "need to be anchored in an assessment of how the economy is actually performing”.
“The economy still needs the support of a very accommodative monetary policy,” Dudley added.
The Fed said last week that it wanted to see more evidence of a sustained economic recovery before it adjusted the scale of its bond buying program. The decision surprised markets, which had been expecting a modest reduction to the stimulus program.
Elsewhere, the euro fell to session lows against the dollar, with EUR/USD down 0.21% to 1.3493.
The euro weakened after Draghi said the ECB is ready to launch a third round of Long Term Refinancing Operations if necessary. The comments came during testimony about the economy before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs in Brussels.
The single currency hit intra-day lows earlier after data showed that manufacturing output in the euro zone was weaker than expected this month, but this was offset by an improvement in service sector activity.
Demand for the euro continued to be underpinned after German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party won general elections on Sunday, securing her a historic third term in office. Political party leaders were due to meet later Monday to discuss coalition talks.
The pound pulled back from session highs against the dollar, with GBP/USD up 0.18% to 1.6034, after rising as high as 1.6072 earlier.
The dollar was little changed against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF inching up 0.04% to 0.9111.
Elsewhere, the greenback was slightly lower against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD advancing 0.48% to 0.9441, NZD/USD edging up 0.08% to 0.8368 and USD/CAD sliding 0.13% to 1.0293.
The Australian dollar was boosted after data released on Monday showed that the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing index rose to a six-month high of 51.2 in September, up from 50.1 in August.
Economists had forecast a reading of 50.9.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.08% to 80.60.