The greenback, the Australian dollar and the US-China trade in brief



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The dollar hit a two-week high on Friday as investors rushed to the greenback's security after failed US-China trade talks and wider concerns over slowing global growth .

Such concerns were highlighted on Thursday after the European Commission lowered its economic growth forecasts for the eurozone this year, and it is predicted that the largest bloc countries would be held back by global trade tensions and challenges. interiors.

Investor worries about the global economy have also been compounded by comments from US President Donald Trump, who said he was not planning to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. before the deadline of March 1 to conclude a commercial agreement.

"The dollar is buoyed by worries about global growth and external factors," said Sim Moh Siong, currency strategist at the Bank of Singapore.

"Markets are waiting to see what measures could stabilize global growth … until then, it's hard to see the dollar weaken."

The dollar index, an indicator of its value against six major competitors, remained stable at 96.56, just below its two-week high.

The index has won for six consecutive sessions. This is mainly due to the weakness of the euro, which weighs about 58% of the index, despite the Fed 's change of course on interest rates last week.

The euro was slightly lower at 1.1288 dollar, posting its fifth consecutive day of losses. The single currency has stumbled due to weaker than expected growth data in the eurozone and the prospect that the European Central Bank will maintain accommodative monetary policy this year.

The yen was stable in the first Asian trade at 109.78. Analysts believe that the Japanese demand for foreign bonds has supported the dollar / yen. The greenback gained about 0.8% against the yen last week.

Elsewhere, the Australian dollar was down 0.5% to $ 0.7067 as the Reserve Bank of Australia reduced its growth forecast.

The Australian dollar has lost more than two percent of its value so far this week after the central bank signaled a change in its long-standing tightening bias earlier this week.

But badysts see a limited disadvantage for the Australian.

"The Australian dollar should find technical support at US $ 0.70 against the US dollar, with a lot of bad news already announced, and rising iron ore prices should also be favorable," added Sim, of the Bank of America. Singapore.

The pound was slightly lower at 1.2950 USD. Traders expect the sterling to remain volatile in the near term due to the uncertainty around Brexit.

The UK is about to leave the EU on March 29 without agreement, unless British Prime Minister Theresa May convinces the bloc to reopen the divorce agreement reached in November.

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