MW: Dollar index slips; traders mull ISDA move, ISM
By Deborah Levine and Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The dollar index traded lower Thursday after a U.S. manufacturing gauge fell unexpectedly, but the greenback held gains against the euro following a trade body’s ruling that Greece’s privately-held debt restructuring hasn’t met the threshold of a “credit event.”
The dollar index DXY -0.05% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, traded at 78.779, down from 78.819 shortly before the factory data and from 78.799 in late North American trading Wednesday.
The index briefly added to earlier gains immediately after the data, then slipped back.
The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index declined to 52.4 last month from 54.1 in January. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a reading of 55. Read more on ISM.
The ISM number “is clearly forecasting a slower manufacturing sector and overall economy into summer, which will hurt the dollar,” said Keith Springer, president of Springer Financial Advisors.
However it could be seen by the Federal Reserve as evidence that more bond purchases could be warranted, he added.
Meanwhile, the euro EURUSD -0.01% fell to $1.3323 from $1.3334 late Wednesday.
By Deborah Levine and Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The dollar index traded lower Thursday after a U.S. manufacturing gauge fell unexpectedly, but the greenback held gains against the euro following a trade body’s ruling that Greece’s privately-held debt restructuring hasn’t met the threshold of a “credit event.”
The dollar index DXY -0.05% , which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, traded at 78.779, down from 78.819 shortly before the factory data and from 78.799 in late North American trading Wednesday.
The index briefly added to earlier gains immediately after the data, then slipped back.
The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index declined to 52.4 last month from 54.1 in January. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a reading of 55. Read more on ISM.
The ISM number “is clearly forecasting a slower manufacturing sector and overall economy into summer, which will hurt the dollar,” said Keith Springer, president of Springer Financial Advisors.
However it could be seen by the Federal Reserve as evidence that more bond purchases could be warranted, he added.
Meanwhile, the euro EURUSD -0.01% fell to $1.3323 from $1.3334 late Wednesday.
