FX:Dollar at multi-month highs vs. yen, euro lower
Forexpros - The U.S. dollar hit multi-month highs against the yen on Wednesday, and was broadly higher against the other major currencies after euro zone finance ministers failed to reach an agreement on unlocking an aid payment for Greece.
During European late morning trade, the dollar was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD sliding 0.14% to 1.2799.
Talks between euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund concluded on Tuesday without reaching a deal on unlocking Greece’s bailout package, amid disagreements on how best to reduce the country’s debt to sustainable levels.
The head of the eurogroup of finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker said a deal was close, but he didn’t know when Athens would receive its next aid installment. The talks are set to continue next Monday.
The greenback edged higher against the pound, with GBP/USD dipping 0.06% to 1.5916.
In the U.K., the minutes of the Bank of England’s November meeting minutes showed that one policymaker voted in favor of more monetary easing this month, calling for an additional GBP25 billion.
The minutes also said that the U.K. economic recovery is being impaired by the ongoing debt crisis in the euro zone, government austerity measures and banks reluctance to lend.
Elsewhere, the Office for National Statistics said U.K. public sector net borrowing came in at GBP6.5 billion in October, down from a revised GBP9.9 billion in September, but above forecasts for borrowing of GBP4.0 billion.
Elsewhere, the greenback was trading at seven-month highs against the yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.82% to 82.34 and edged higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF easing up 0.07% to 0.9405.
The yen remained under pressure amid expectations that elections on December 16 will result in growing political pressure on the BoJ to implement more aggressive monetary easing measures.
Sentiment on the yen was also hit by weak Japanese export data. Official data earlier showed that exports fell for a fifth month in October down 6.5% year-on-year, bringing the trade deficit to a wider-than-forecast JPY549 billion.
The greenback pushed higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD edging up 0.02% to 0.9969, AUD/USD slipping 0.18% to 1.0369 and NZD/USD down 0.39% to 0.8137.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.19% to 81.08.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims. This data was being released one day early ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.
