The United States of America Dollar, on Thursday, June 22, eased versus the yen as a recent rally tied to bets on another U.S. interest rate hike this year lost steam.
The U.S. dollar eased 0.2 percent against the yen to 111.15, pulling away from a three-week high of 111.79 yen reached on Tuesday.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was marginally weaker at 97.504, having retreated from a one-month high of 97.871 set on Tuesday.
The New Zealand dollar was the big mover during Asian trade, rising 0.4 percent on the day to $0.7248, edging back in the direction of a four-month peak of $0.7320 set last week.
The kiwi rose after New Zealand’s central bank played down the recent rise in the currency, while it kept interest rates steady at record lows as analysts had widely expected.
“The main takeaways from the statement were pretty much in line with the last statement. They’re still optimistic and positive on the medium-term growth outlook,” said Peter Dragicevich, G10 FX strategist for Nomura in Singapore.
A recent narrowing of the U.S.-Japan 10-year yield differential, was also weighing on the dollar, Wong said.
The U.S. 10-year bond yield is now 209 basis points above its Japanese counterpart, compared to levels around 237 basis points seen in the early part of May.
The euro was little changed at $1.1168 Sterling held steady at $1.2670, after having risen 0.3 percent on Wednesday when the Bank of England’s chief economist, Andy Haldane, said he expected to back a British rate increase this year. (Reporting by Masayuki Kitano in SINGAPORE; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Kim Coghill).
