Dollar Edges Up; Aussie Slips Before China NPC
A gauge of the dollar inched higher after erasing much of its post-election gains in the previous session. Australia’s dollar underperformed its Group-of-10 peers amid jitters before the outcome of China’s key legislative meeting.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%. It closed 0.8% lower Thursday, after spiking 1.3% following Donald Trump’s victory in the US election. Aussie fell on leveraged sales ahead of event risk posed by the National People’s Congress meeting in Beijing, according to an Asia-based FX trader.
“There are many people who want to buy the dollar on dips,” said Keiichi Iguchi, a senior strategist at Resona Holdings Inc. in Tokyo. “US yields and the dollar are expected to remain under upward pressure because of a possible red sweep,” Iguchi said.
Treasury 10-year yields were little changed at 4.33%.
Federal Reserve officials unanimously lowered the federal funds rate to a range of 4.5% to 4.75%, following a half-point reduction in September, in an effort to protect the economy’s soft landing.
AUD/USD fell 0.2% to 0.6664 after closing up 1.7%. Pair is set for its first weekly gain since September.
Traders are watching if China would announce stronger stimulus measures after the NPC concludes later on Friday. That would help cushion any blow from potential tariffs from a Trump administration.
USD/JPY up 0.1% to 153.04; pair is set to halt five straight weeks of gains.
Some information comes from an FX trader familiar with the transactions who asked not to be identified because the person isn’t authorized to speak publicly.
Source: Bloomberg
