The United State of America dollar steadied against the yen on Friday, December 1, losing steam after rising to a 10-day high, as the market endured the wait for a vote on a U.S. tax reform bill.
The greenback stretched overnight gains and initially climbed to 112.690 yen, its highest since Nov. 21, as Wall Street rallied and Treasury yields spiked after US tax reform plans were seen progressing towards legislative approval following an endorsement by Senator John McCain, Economic Times reports.
But the dollar was last at 112.510 yen, unchanged on the day, after it was decided that the US Senate will not vote on the tax bill late on Thursday night US time but would continue the debate on Friday.
“That fact that the vote did not take place on Thursday evening shows that there are still some kinks to be ironed out, but it is not like the deliberations have fallen through,” said Yukio Ishizuki, senior currency strategist at Daiwa Securities.
“The dollar stalled along with the slip in equities, but equities were due for a minor correction after yesterday’s surge.”
S&P mini futures were last down 0.3 per cent after Wall Street shares soared to record highs on Thursday.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was 0.1 per cent lower at 92.956 but poised to eke out a 0.2 per cent gain for the week, during which it managed to pull away from a two-month low of 92.496.
The euro was little changed at $1.1908 after gaining about 0.5 per cent the previous day.
The common currency, which reached a two-month top of $1.1961 on Monday following upbeat German data and pressured the dollar, was still on track for a 0.3 per cent weekly loss after a volatile week.
The pound was a shade higher at $1.3534 after surging 0.9 per cent overnight when it set a two-month high of $1.3549.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives held talks late on Thursday with centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) to facilitate the formation of a stable government in a bid to end the country’s political impasse, but the outcome was not known by early Friday.
The New Zealand dollar stood little changed at $0.6828 after news the country’s terms of trade hit a record high in the third quarter.
The kiwi had sunk 0.7 per cent the previous day, hurt by a weak business sentiment reading and lacklustre housing data.
