The dollar was soft in Asian market opening trades today as traders assessed the U.S. interest rates outlook in the wake of comments from Federal Reserve officials that cemented expectation of monetary settings remaining restrictive for a while longer. The dollar has been rising in recent weeks as a slew of strong U.S. economic data and persistent inflation dashed expectation of rate cuts in the near term. Dollar strength has cast a shadow across currency markets, keeping the yen rooted near 34-year lows and leading to several warnings from Japanese authorities as traders fret about possible intervention. Emerging-market currencies have also been under pressure. In major currencies today, the yen strengthened 0.05% to 154.21 a dollar but remained close to the 34-year low of 154.79 touched on Tuesday. The currency is down 8.65% so far this year. The euro was a tad weaker at $1.0664, having notched a 0.5% gain yesterday and lifting away from a five-month low touched on Tuesday. Sterling was last at $1.2449, up 0.02% on the day. The Indian rupee opened stronger with a gap of about 04 paise at 83.50/51 against its previous session’s close of 83.54/55 and is expected to trade between 83.45– 83.55 band today.
Available to subscribers only!
