FALCON POWERS – The dollar held steady against a basket of major currencies on Monday as markets awaited US inflation data to assess the possibility of interest rate cuts this year.
According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, markets are expecting a 61.2% chance of an interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) September meeting, with expectations of a total cut of around 50 basis points. Markets are anticipating the release of the Producer Price Index data on Tuesday, followed by the Consumer Price Index on Wednesday.
The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of currencies, remained at 105.31 after recording gains last week following two consecutive weeks of decline.
Against the yen, the dollar held steady at 155.80 after touching its highest level since May 2 at 155.965 yen per dollar. The dollar rose against the yen after a three percent loss at the beginning of the month, which marked the largest weekly percentage decline since early December 2022, following suspected interventions by Japanese authorities.
The euro showed little change at $1.07695, as the Eurozone prepares for the release of inflation data on Friday.
The British pound remained steady at $1.2522.
The offshore Chinese yuan weakened by 0.1% to 7.2414 against the dollar.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin rose by 0.68% in the latest trades to $60,889.51.
