The dollar saw muted action early Monday, ahead of a week with little economic data and the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Major themes continued, however, with investors focusing on the global growth slowdown and European political developments.
The U.S. dollar added on from Friday’s weakness that came on the coattails of comments by Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida. In an interview with CNBC, Clarida Friday offered a more dovish view on the Fed’s monetary policy normalization path, and warned of a slowing global economy. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan also acknowledged global slowing.
The buck continued its modest slide on Monday, with the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.30% down 0.1% at 96.405.
The New Zealand dollar NZDUSD, -0.5235% was the worst performer among developed market currencies, dropping to $0.6821 from 0.6877 late Friday in New York, as the currency retraced its rally from late last week that was helped by weakness in its U.S. rival.
In Europe, lingering political tensions remained a factor, with euro traders focusing on developments surrounding Italy and British pound traders watching for Brexit news.
One euro EURUSD, +0.4029% last bought $1.1424, little changed from $1.1418 late Friday in New York.
Investors continue to focus on a possible party leadership challenge to Prime Minister Theresa May. Around 20 letters from Conservative members of parliament calling for a no-confidence vote have been made public, with more expected to exist in private, meaning that May is still not out of the woods yet. It would take 48 letters to trigger a vote. That said, no more cabinet resignations have followed last week’s flurry.
Sterling GBPUSD, +0.2883% last fetched $1.2820, down slightly from $1.2833 late Friday. The euro-sterling pair EURGBP, +0.1236% was up 0.2% at £0.8914.
