IV:Dollar rallies vs. yen after BoJ, ECB, BoE ahead
Investing.com - The dollar rallied against the yen on Thursday after the Bank of Japan announced more aggressive easing measures, while markets awaited the outcome of policy meetings by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England later in the session.
During European morning trade, the dollar rallied against the yen, with USD/JPY jumping 2.75% to 95.57.
The BoJ, under the leadership of newly appointed Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, said it plans to double its asset purchase program over the next two years and extend the maturities of the bonds it purchases.
The dollar was trading close to four-month highs against the euro, with EUR/USD falling 0.47% to 1.2792.
The ECB was not widely expected to announce any changes to monetary policy on Thursday.
Investors remained wary ahead of comments from President Mario Draghi at the bank’s post-policy meeting press conference amid concerns over the deteriorating economic outlook for the currency bloc and worries over the possible implications of the bailout deal for Cyprus.
The dollar rose to two-week highs against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.61% to 1.5039.
Sentiment on sterling remained weak amid speculation that the BoE could resume monetary easing at its policy meeting, after recent weak economic data fuelled fears over the risk of a triple-dip recession.
The U.K. was due to release data on services sector activity ahead of the BoE meeting.
The dollar gained ground against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF rising 0.51% to 0.9501.
The greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD easing up 0.11% to 1.0156, AUD/USD dropping 0.45% to 1.0413 and NZD/USD losing 0.56% to 0.8369.
The Australian dollar was trading close to two-month highs earlier after official data showed that Australian retail sales rose 1.3% in February, far exceeding forecasts for as 0.3% gain, after rising by 1.2% in January.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.78% to an eight-month high of 83.52.
The U.S. was to release government data on initial jobless claims later Thursday and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to speak.
