Investing.com - The U.S. dollar traded mixed against its major rivals during Thursday’s Asian session ahead of several major central bank meetings later Thursday.
In Asian trading Thursday, EUR/USD fell 0.05% to 1.3202. The European Central Bank will provide monetary policy commentary later Thursday and while President Mario Draghi is not expected to lower interest rates, market participants will be eagerly listening for Draghi to speak on the topic of when the central bank could raise rates.
Traders have been yearning for Draghi to take a page from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke’s playbook and give a time table for when rates might rise and tie such an increase to important economic data, such as employment rates.
Speaking of mirroring Bernanke, that is what Bank of England has attempted to do by tying interest rate hikes to employment improvements. BoE meets Thursday as well. GBP/USD inched down 0.03% to 1.5620 after the Markit U.K. services purchasing managers’ index rose to 60.5 in August, the highest since December 2006, from 60.2 in July. The numbers defied consensus forecasts, as analysts were calling for a decline to 59.0.
USD/JPY nudged down 0.04% to 99.72 ahead of comments from the Bank of Japan later Thursday. Little is expected in the way of surprises from BoJ.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report released during Wednesday’s U.S. session showed a moderate and improving pace of economic growth across all 12 Fed regions.
In other U.S. economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the U.S. trade deficit widened more than expected in July, hitting USD39.1 billion from a downwardly revised USD34.5 billion deficit in June, mainly due to improving imports.
USD/CHF rose 0.05% to 0.9360 while USD/CAD fell 0.04% to 1.0487 after the Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged at 1%.
AUD/USD inched up 0.03% to 91.78 while NZD/USD was modestly lower by 0.01% at 0.7906. The U.S. Dollar Index was steady at 82.21.
In Asian trading Thursday, EUR/USD fell 0.05% to 1.3202. The European Central Bank will provide monetary policy commentary later Thursday and while President Mario Draghi is not expected to lower interest rates, market participants will be eagerly listening for Draghi to speak on the topic of when the central bank could raise rates.
Traders have been yearning for Draghi to take a page from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke’s playbook and give a time table for when rates might rise and tie such an increase to important economic data, such as employment rates.
Speaking of mirroring Bernanke, that is what Bank of England has attempted to do by tying interest rate hikes to employment improvements. BoE meets Thursday as well. GBP/USD inched down 0.03% to 1.5620 after the Markit U.K. services purchasing managers’ index rose to 60.5 in August, the highest since December 2006, from 60.2 in July. The numbers defied consensus forecasts, as analysts were calling for a decline to 59.0.
USD/JPY nudged down 0.04% to 99.72 ahead of comments from the Bank of Japan later Thursday. Little is expected in the way of surprises from BoJ.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report released during Wednesday’s U.S. session showed a moderate and improving pace of economic growth across all 12 Fed regions.
In other U.S. economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the U.S. trade deficit widened more than expected in July, hitting USD39.1 billion from a downwardly revised USD34.5 billion deficit in June, mainly due to improving imports.
USD/CHF rose 0.05% to 0.9360 while USD/CAD fell 0.04% to 1.0487 after the Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged at 1%.
AUD/USD inched up 0.03% to 91.78 while NZD/USD was modestly lower by 0.01% at 0.7906. The U.S. Dollar Index was steady at 82.21.