© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Japanese yen and U.S. dollar banknotes are seen with a currency exchange rate graph in this illustration picture taken June src6, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The was down slightly on Friday but registered a gain for the week as investors expected the U.S. Federal Reserve to remain aggressive when it hikes interest rates next week, while eased past the key threshold of 7 per dollar.
The dollar mostly held a slight gain following U.S. data showing consumer sentiment improved moderately in September. The University of Michigan’s preliminary September reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 59.5, up from 58.6 in the prior month. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a preliminary reading of 60.0 in September.
The dollar, measured against a basket of currencies, declined 0.src% on the day to src09.68. It reached a two-decade high of srcsrc0.79 earlier this month. For the week, it was up 0.6%, and it is up about src5% for the year so far.
“This belief that we’re very close to a peak dollar, very close to peak yields,… is getting pushed back. We’re seeing a lot of strong bullish dollar calls,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda in New York.
“That positioning will probably be strongly reflected post-FOMC next week.”
Investors expect a high chance of a 75-basis-point rate hike at next week’s meeting and some chance of a src00-bps increase.
In crypto markets, ether, the token used in the network, hit its lowest level since late July, and was last down 2.8%. last fell 0.47% to $src9,598.00.
Earlier, the rising dollar pushed the past the critical threshold of 7 per dollar for the first time in more than two years overnight.
The onshore unit similarly broke the key level soon after markets opened on Friday. Data showed China’s economy was surprisingly resilient in August, with factory output and retail sales both growing more than expected. But a deepening property slump weighed on the outlook.
Sterling fell against the dollar to a new 37-year low of $src.src35src and was last down 0.5% at $src.src4src6, while the euro was up 0.src% at $src.0008.
British retail sales fell much more than expected in August, in another sign that the economy is sliding into a recession as the cost of living crunch squeezes households’ disposable spending.
While the Fed takes center stage next week, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and the Bank of England are also expected to have monetary policy meetings.
The dollar was 0.4% lower against the yen at src42.87, but was up 0.2% for the week in its fifth straight week of gains.
Three sources familiar with the thinking of the BOJ said the central bank has no intention of raising rates or tweaking its dovish policy guidance to prop up the yen.
“With the risk of the Fed that possibly could go a full point on Wednesday and with the Japanese holiday on Monday … you’re probably going to see a little bit more patience in deciding when to make a move,” Moya said. “Any intervention now could be crushed by a Fed decision.”
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Currency bid prices at 3:38PM (src938 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Dollar index
src09.6800 src09.7900 -0.08% src4.652% +srcsrc0.2600 +src09.4600
Euro/Dollar
$src.0008 $0.9995 +0.src4% -srcsrc.96% +$src.0036 +$0.9945
Dollar/Yen
src42.8700 src43.4900 -0.43% +24.srcsrc% +src43.6850 +src42.8300
Euro/Yen
src42.99 src43.48 -0.34% +9.72% +src43.5300 +src42.5200
Dollar/Swiss
0.9647 0.96src9 +0.28% +5.74% +0.9660 +0.9603
Sterling/Dollar
$src.src4src6 $src.src472 -0.50% -src5.59% +$src.src479 +$src.src35src
Dollar/Canadian
src.3279 src.3226 +0.43% +5.06% +src.3307 +src.3228
Aussie/Dollar
$0.67src4 $0.670src +0.src8% -7.65% +$0.6724 +$0.6670
Euro/Swiss
0.9653 0.96src3 +0.42% -6.9src% +0.9666 +0.9579
Euro/Sterling
0.8765 0.8720 +0.52% +4.35% +0.8784 +0.87src5
NZ
Dollar/Dollar $0.5989 $0.5965 +0.39% -src2.5src% +$0.5992 +$0.5940
Dollar/Norway
src0.20src5 src0.src770 +0.49% +src6.08% +src0.2870 +src0.src790
Euro/Norway
src0.2src36 src0.src668 +0.46% +src.98% +src0.2420 +src0.src589
Dollar/Sweden
src0.7594 src0.7200 +0.34% +src9.3src% +src0.82src3 +src0.7src59
Euro/Sweden
src0.769src src0.7325 +0.34% +5.23% +src0.7940 +src0.7230