Singapore, Jan. 30 (BNA): The dollar steadied on Monday, distancing itself from eight-month lows ahead of a slew of central bank meetings this week, including those of the Federal Reserve, with traders firmly focused on guidance for the rate path. rate rises.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.03% to 101.92, pulling away from last week’s eight-month low of 101.50, Reuters reported.
However, it remained on track for a fourth consecutive monthly loss of 1.5%, hurt by expectations that the Fed is nearing the end of its rate-raising cycle and that interest rates will not have to rise as previously feared.
The British pound rose 0.01% to $1.24005, while the kiwi rose 0.09% to $0.6500.
Moves were muted ahead of policy meetings from the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BoE) later this week.
said Rodrigo Catrill, currency strategist at National Australia Bank (NAB).
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points, while the European Central Bank and Bank of England are likely to raise interest rates by 50 basis points each.
The euro was last up 0.03% at $1.08705 and was on track for a monthly gain of around 1.5%, marking the fourth consecutive month of increases.
The single currency got a boost from continued hawkish rhetoric from policy makers at the European Central Bank and easing fears of a deep recession in the eurozone.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar rose 0.11% to $0.71175, while the Japanese yen fell marginally, to $129.94 per dollar.
Data on Friday showed that core consumer prices in the Japanese capital for January posted their fastest annual gain in nearly 42 years, keeping the Bank of Japan under pressure to phase out economic stimulus.
As China returns from the Lunar New Year holiday, focus will be on the upcoming release of PMI data on Tuesday.
“The market will be looking forward… I hope you won’t be disappointed,” said NAB’s Cattrell.
“So far, the data coming out of China, or the sentiment coming out of China, is playing into the view that a good reopening in terms of activity is likely to unfold.”
Lunar New Year holiday trips within China rose 74% from a year ago, state media reported on Saturday, after authorities scrapped coronavirus travel restrictions.
The offshore yuan rose more than 0.1% to 6.7465 per dollar.