The US Dollar has weakened against the majority of its peers as its rally slowed on speculation that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will counter the claims that the Fed will reduce its quantitative easing programme any time soon.
Last week saw the US currency soar after Federal Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said that the quickening growth and a slow but steady improvement in the nation’s jobs market could prompt the Central Bank to begin reducing its $85 billion of monthly bond buying in the near future.
The Dollar soared to a two-month high against the Euro and pushed onto a four year high against the Japanese Yen.
On Wednesday the 22nd of May, Bernanke is due to go before a Joint Economic Committee of Congress in Washington in order to testify on the nation’s economic outlook.
“The market has just moved too quickly ahead of what the Fed is actually likely to do,” said the chief economist at Barclays Plc in Sydney. “We’re not expecting Chairman Bernanke to give any sign that tapering is going to happen soon.”
Minutes of the last Federal Reserve policy meeting is also due to be released that day.
“His testimony takes on much greater focus given that expectations of early tapering are again gaining ground,” Sue Trinh, a senior currency strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong, wrote in a note to clients today. “Those expectations will likely be disappointed in the event that he reiterates an accommodative policy stance.”
The ‘Greenback’ found little support in Europe due to a public holiday being held across much of the Eurozone. The closure of markets led to light Euro trading conditions. Comments from the Japanese also affected the currency. The Japanese economy minister says that the Yen’s downward correction is now complete.
Current US Dollar (USD) Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6567
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7774
The US Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0211
The US Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 102.5417
The US Dollar/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0276
The Pound Sterling/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.5226
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2863
The Australian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9792
The Canadian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9730
The New Zealand Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8119
(Correct as of 16:20pm GMT)
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