Stock Market Watch

Forex Market Update: Dollar Index Edges Down, More Economic Data Eyed

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The U.S. dollar traded broadly lower during Asian trading hours on Thursday as ambiguity over when and at what pace the Federal Reserve will start winding down its multi-billion asset purchase program prompted investors  to cut positions on the U.S. unit.

The dollar came under pressure on Wednesday after the Labor Department’s July’s Producer Price Index showed that the “core” wholesale inflation rose at a lower-than-expected rate, raising expectations that the Fed might wait for little longer before its starts to taper its asset purchases.

The dollar Index, a gauge on greenback’s performance against a basket of six major traded currencies, fell 0.20% to 81.54, at last check. The Index fell as low as 81.43 on Thursday after closing at 81.71 on Wednesday.

The euro was last up 0.29% against the dollar to trade at $1.3294 while the sterling gained 0.57% to $1.5590.

Earlier this week, two top Fed officials, Atlanta Fed President, Dennis Lockhart and St Louis Fed President, James Bullard did not provide any clear message as to when the bank might start scaling back the pace of economic stimulating measures.

Meanwhile, investors will look forward to a series of economic data releases on Thursday. In addition of the labor market data (weekly jobless applications) and home builders’ sentiment index, market participants will keep a close eye on July’s Consumer Price Index (CPI). If these numbers show significant improvement then the dollar could bounce back.

 








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edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.

Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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