SINGAPORE — The euro steadied on
Wednesday and riskier currencies bounced, lifted by optimism
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China’s eventual emergence from COVID restrictions helps growth,
while investor focus turned to U.S. data and the Federal
Reserve.
The euro had lost 1% overnight, its sharpest drop
in more than two months, following a larger-than-expected drop
in German inflation, but it edged up from three-week lows to
$1.0566 in Asia trade.
The trade-and-China sensitive Australian dollar
strengthened 0.7% to $0.6735, recouping some of its overnight
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losses, while the yuan nudged about 0.2% firmer to
6.9010 per dollar – creeping back toward Tuesday’s four-month
peak.
State media in China played down the severity of a surge of
COVID-19 infections on Tuesday as the country shifts out of
lockdowns and restrictions to living with the virus.
The Thai baht has scaled six-month highs on
expectations its economy will gain from improved tourism as
China drops quarantine for travelers and the Singapore dollar
hit an 18-month high on Tuesday.
Larger moves were capped in the still holiday-thinned Asia
session by looming economic data in the United States and the
release of minutes from last month’s Federal Reserve meeting.
“We’re back in to some A-league economic data, so maybe
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we’ll get some more fundamentally-driven price action out of
that,” said National Australia Bank’s head of FX strategy, Ray
Attrill, in Sydney.
The yen was 0.2% stronger at 130.76 per dollar.
The U.S. dollar index rose 1% on Tuesday to 104.73,
mostly due to the euro’s drop, and it eased a little on
Wednesday to 104.47. Sterling hovered at $1.1986 and
the kiwi nudged 0.3% higher to $0.6263.
Headline German CPI fell to an annual 8.6% in December, from
10% the previous month, against expectations for 9.1%, data on
Tuesday showed, knocking the euro and rallying bunds.
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Currency bid prices at 0325 GMT
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
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Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar
$1.0568 $1.0549 +0.19% -1.37% +1.0570 +1.0541
Dollar/Yen
130.7150 131.0200 -0.14% -0.30% +131.4150 +130.6850
Euro/Yen
Dollar/Swiss
0.9336 0.9359 -0.15% +1.05% +0.9366 +0.9332
Sterling/Dollar
1.1986 1.1968 +0.15% -0.89% +1.2000 +1.1960
Dollar/Canadian
1.3638 1.3670 -0.25% +0.65% +1.3680 +1.3637
Aussie/Dollar
0.6774 0.6727 +0.71% -0.61% +0.6776 +0.6718
NZ
Dollar/Dollar 0.6262 0.6248 +0.25% -1.36% +0.6276 +0.6245
All spots
Tokyo spots
Europe spots
Volatilities
Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ
(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
