Forex - Dollar mostly higher even as Fed resists tapering

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar traded higher against most its major rivals during Thursday’s Asian session even after the Federal Reserve said it will make no alterations to its USD85 billion-per-month asset-buying program known as quantitative easing.

In Asian trading Thursday, EUR/USD inched down 0.01% to 1.3522. Many investors felt the Fed would announce plans to trim the amount of bonds it buys each month to spur recovery, a stimulus tool known as quantitative easing that drives down long-term interest rates and weakens the dollar to spur recovery, a recipe for rising gold prices. However, the Fed surprised markets by saying tapering of its easing efforts is tied to economic data and not the calendar.

The U.S. central bank "decided to await more evidence that progress will be sustained before adjusting the pace of its purchases," it said in a statement.

GBP/USD fell 0.07% to 1.6133 even after the release of the minutes of the Bank of England's September meeting, which showed that policymakers voted unanimously in favor of keeping the benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.5% and the size of the bank’s asset purchase facility unchanged at GBP375 billion.

USD/JPY climbed 0.25% to 98.19 after the Ministry of Finance said Japan’s trade balance rose to negative JPY790 billion in August from negative JPY910 billion in July. The July figured was revised up from negative JPY940 billion. Analysts expected an August reading of negative JPY810 billion.

USD/CHF rose 0.10% to 0.9130 while USD/CAD was flat at 1.0221.

In U.S. economic news out Wednesday, the Commerce Department said single-family housing starts jumped 7% last month to an annual rate of 628,000 units, the highest level in six months. New construction for apartments and condominiums fell 11.1%. Permits for single-family homes rose 3% to the highest level since May 2008.

AUD/USD fell 0.17% to 0.9505. NZD/USD jumped 0.30% to 0.8396 after Statistics New Zealand said the country’s second-quarter GDP rose 2.5%, beating the consensus estimate of 2.3%.

The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.09% to 80.30.