- Safe-haven Japanese yen hits five-month high vs dollar
- Sterling rises as BoE resists pressure of to cut rates
- Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
(Adds comment, updates prices)
The U.S. dollar slipped to a fresh eight-week low as U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell to new troughs and traders bet the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further, after slashing them by 50 basis points this week in an emergency move to shield the economy from the effects of the coronavirus.
Monetary policy easing in the United States, fueled by worries about the economic impact of the coronavirus, is endangering the dollar's years-long rally and giving a boost to currencies around the world.
On Thursday, the dollar index =USD , which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six other major currencies, was about 0.8% lower at 96.639, after slipping as low as 96.608, its weakest since Jan. 6.
Money markets were pricing in another 25 basis-point-cut from the current 1% to 1.25% range at the next Fed meeting on March 18-19 and a 50-basis-point cut by April.
"The cuts were emergency, so it's worth wondering, will the Fed strike again like this or will they telegraph another move? It seems like they're willing to help at any point, thus the lack of faith in the buck is understandable," said Juan Perez, senior foreign exchange trader and strategist at Tempus Inc in Washington.
The fast-spreading coronavirus, which emerged late last year in central China, is now in some 80 countries and has killed more than 3,000 worldwide.
Against the Japanese yen JPY= , which tends to attract investors during times of geopolitical or financial stress because Japan is the world’s biggest creditor nation, the dollar fell 1.2% to a six-month low and was last at 106.22 yen.
"Wall Street was down nearly 3% at midsession, while Treasury yields headed to fresh all-time lows, both combining to weigh heavily on the pairing," said Ronald Simpson, managing director of global currency analysis at Action Economics.
The dollar found little support from data that showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, suggesting the labor market was on solid footing despite the coronavirus outbreak.
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, a day after the Bank of Canada delivered its biggest interest rate cut in more than 10 years and signaled it was ready to ease further because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Sterling GBP= gained 0.7% against the greenback as expectations waned for an immediate Bank of England rate cut to follow this week's emergency move by the Fed.
Incoming BoE governor Andrew Bailey dampened expectations of an inter-meeting cut late on Wednesday, telling lawmakers the central bank should wait until it has more clarity about the economic hit from the outbreak.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 3:29 PM (2029 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1214 $1.1134 +0.72% +0.04% +1.1218 +1.1120 Dollar/Yen JPY= 106.2200 107.5200 -1.21% -2.43% +107.7300 +106.2300 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 119.14 119.74 -0.50% -2.30% +119.9800 +119.1000 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9470 0.9567 -1.01% -2.15% +0.9573 +0.9470 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2954 1.2870 +0.65% -2.30% +1.2958 +1.2861 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3412 1.3384 +0.21% +3.28% +1.3438 +1.3383 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6594 0.6626 -0.48% -6.08% +0.6637 +0.6585 arEuro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0620 1.0655 -0.33% -2.14% +1.0675 +1.0617 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8656 0.8649 +0.08% +2.40% +0.8678 +0.8622 NZ NZD= 0.6297 0.6296 +0.02% -6.52% +0.6334 +0.6281 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK= 9.2901 9.2554 +0.37% +5.83% +9.3074 +9.2417 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.4211 10.3060 +1.12% +5.93% +10.4258 +10.3006 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.4508 9.4777 +0.47% +1.11% +9.4899 +9.4379 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.6004 10.5510 +0.47% +1.25% +10.6020 +10.5370 <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Major currencies vs dollar https://tmsnrt.rs/39l3Hc2^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
