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Best News Website or Mobile Service WAN-IFRA Digital Media Awards Worldwide 2022 Best News Website or Mobile Service Digital Media Awards Worldwide 2022 SINGAPORE : The dollar found a footing on Thursday as a sudden end to a strong rally for U.S. stocks had investors looking for safety and as an unexpected fall in British inflation hit the pound. Sterling suffered its sharpest drop in two months overnight after British inflation dived below forecasts to an annual 3.9 per cent in October, its lowest for two years. Traders scrambled to price rate cuts by May and the currency dropped 0.7 per cent to $1.2638. "The data suggests that inflation momentum in the United Kingdom is finally losing steam, allowing the Bank of England to join the global rate cutting cycle next year," said analyst Marios Hadjikyriacos of brokerage XM. Elsewhere heavy selling in the final hour of equities trade on Wall Street sent a ripple of risk-aversion through markets, lifting what had been an under-pressure greenback from lows. The Australian and New Zealand dollars retreated from five-month highs. The Aussie was last at $0.6714, having touched its highest since July at $0.6779 a day earlier. The kiwi traded at $0.6257. The euro was stable at $1.0943. The yen found support at 143.5 per dollar, after having lost ground on Tuesday when the Bank of Japan left its ultra-easy policy settings unchanged. Currency markets' next focus is on Friday's release of the U.S. core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index which is forecast by analysts to rise 0.2 per cent in November with the annual inflation rate slowing to its lowest since 2021 at 3.3 per cent. Analysts suspect the balance of risk is on the downside and the slowdown in inflation means the Fed will have to ease policy just to stop real rates from rising. But with 150 basis points of cuts already priced in next year, a massive rally in the bond market and the dollar index down more than 4 per cent from an early November high, some signs of caution are creeping in. "Some adjustments in positions and paring back of risks ahead of (this) event...is only sensible," said OCBC currency strategist Christopher Wong in Singapore. "Liquidity is getting thinner as we get closer to the festive season, thin liquidity can exacerbate price movements on any data surprises." The dollar index, down 1 per cent for the year so far, was steady at 102.37 in early Asia trade on Thursday. Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields hit a seven-month low of 3.847 per cent in New York. China's yuan slipped on the rising dollar in overnight offshore trade, and as traders see no let up in China's accommodative monetary stance. It was steady at 7.1480 to the dollar on Thursday. Bitcoin leapt briefly above $44,000 on Wednesday and was steady at $43,667 on Thursday. ======================================================== Currency bid prices at 0045 GMT Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar $1.0950 $1.0943 +0.06 per cent +0.00 per cent +1.0950 +1.0937 Dollar/Yen 143.4350 143.6750 -0.16 per cent +0.00 per cent +143.5550 +143.3700 Euro/Yen 157.02 157.07 -0.03 per cent +0.00 per cent +157.1200 +156.8700 Dollar/Swiss 0.8624 0.8626 +0.01 per cent +0.00 per cent +0.8627 +0.8627 Sterling/Dollar 1.2643 1.2639 -0.02 per cent +0.00 per cent +1.2643 +1.2636 Dollar/Canadian 1.3351 1.3371 -0.11 per cent +0.00 per cent +1.3370 +1.3356 Aussie/Dollar 0.6744 0.6731 +0.19 per cent +0.00 per cent +0.6745 +0.6720 NZ Dollar/Dollar 0.6259 0.6248 +0.20 per cent +0.00 per cent +0.6260 +0.6247 All spots Tokyo spots Europe spots Volatilities Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ
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