PT Solid Gold Berjangka | Dollar Drift Ahead of US Inflation Test; Sterling Firms
Indeks Dolar Yen Euro Dolar AS Dolar Australia, Poundsterling PT SGB Solid Gold Berjangka Solid Group SG Berjangka
Solid Gold Berjangka | The British pound held steady as the Bank of England (BOE) retreated from its August interest rate cut.The British pound rose to a one-month high of $1.28545 in early Asian hours and extended gains by 0.48% from the previous session as markets trimmed bets on an easing cycle starting next month following comments from BoE policymakers.
BoE Chief Economist Hugh Pill said on Thursday that the timing of the first rate cut is an “open question” because of persistent upward pressure on prices in the U.K. economy. His colleague, Catherine Mann, said she was unlikely to favor an August rate cut.She said, “The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has only one more set of data to go before the BoE’s August 1 meeting.One set of data is unlikely to be enough to convince the MPC of the direction of inflation, and the MPC may be inclined to wait for more data.” If the data improves over the summer, the MPC will be more confident of a rate cut in September.
In the broader market, currencies traded mostly sideways, but the dollar slipped back, as investors were hesitant to take new positions ahead of the U.S. inflation report.Against the dollar, the euro gained 0.04% to $1.0834 and the Aussie dollar gained 0.01% to $0.6754.The dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies at 104.95.U.S. core inflation is expected to rise 0.2% in June from the previous month to 3.4% for the year.
According to CME’s FedWatch tool, the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September is now over 70%, compared to nearly even a month ago.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Thursday that the U.S. central bank will decide to cut rates “as and when necessary,” defending against suggestions that a September rate cut could be seen as a political act ahead of the fall presidential election.The New Zealand dollar rose 0.11% to $0.60885, recouping some of its losses from the previous session, when it fell 0.7%, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand took a dovish view in its monetary policy statement.
The yen continued to be weighed down by the sharp interest rate gap between the U.S. and Japan, eventually settling at 161.54 per dollar, near a 38-year low.
Source Reuters