TM:Dollar drops a third day before Fed meeting, GDP data this week
NEW YORK, April 28 — The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined for a third day before the US Federal Reserve meets this week and reports on gross domestic product and employment.
The US currency fell against the euro and pound amid an increase in mergers-and-acquisitions activity. Australia’s dollar advanced, rebounding from near a three-week low versus the greenback, as traders’ bullish bets on it rose to the most in one year. The won strengthened the most in more than two weeks on speculation South Korean exporters will repatriate overseas earnings as the end of the month approaches.
“We’ve got US GDP, the Fed meeting and then payrolls on Friday so there are a few more catalysts for foreign-exchange moves this week,” said Michael Sneyd, a currency strategist at BNP Paribas SA in London. “There’s been a spike higher in euro- dollar and cable, which has been put down to M&A deals.” Cable refers to the pound-dollar currency pair.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the US currency against 10 major peers, dropped 0.2 per cent to 1,009.39 as of 9.06am London time after falling to 1,009.28, the lowest level since April 17. The dollar depreciated 0.3 per cent to US$1.3868 (RM4.54) per euro. The pound gained 0.3 per cent to US$1.6846 after climbing to US$1.6853, the highest since November 2009.
The Fed meets April 29-30, when economists predict the central bank will cut its monthly asset purchases by another US$10 billion to US$45 billion. Policy makers will continue to taper at that pace until ending the program at its October 28-29 meeting, according to a separate Bloomberg News survey.
Growth slows
US economic growth expanded at a 1.2 per cent annualised pace in the first quarter, the slowest in a year, based on the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey before the Commerce Department report April 30.
Employers in the US added 215,000 workers this month, the most since November, economists project a May 2 report from the Labor Department will say.
The Aussie climbed 0.2 per cent to 92.97 US cents. It dropped to 92.52 on April 24, the lowest since April 4. The won strengthened 0.6 per cent to close at 1,035.25 per dollar in Seoul, the biggest gain since April 9. The yen was little changed at 102.22 per dollar and weakened 0.3 per cent to 141.75 per euro. — Bloomberg
