The USD continues to build on the gains made last Friday, the US Dollar index is attempting to reclaim the 95 levels after slipping to weekly lows of 94.08 last Thursday. The USD has found renewed support as some US Fed Policymakers took an optimistic view on the health of the US economy and also showed that the possibility of a rate hike this year remained valid.
While most traders think it is unlikely that we see a rate hike this September, its seems that a number of commitee members would like to keep that option very much open for the time being.
It looks like it will be a week of waiting as traders eagerly await Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium next week, as they hope for new direction.
On the other hand reports out this weekend suggested that the BoJ might be cutting rates further in order to support the Japanese economy. USDJPY gapped higher this morning as the USD took the lead on renewed support. USDJPY is currently trading at 100.75.
Despite its losses against the USD, it seems that the Yen enjoyed some support against the antipodeans this morning. The Aussie and the Kiwi continued to sell off after Moody’s cut its outlook for Australian banks to negative last Friday.
Overall sentiment verged towards the negative during today’s Asian session. After Friday’s negative US close, even in Asia this morning most of the major indices were in the red.
