Dollar steady ahead of central bank meetings

Published: 4 Sep at 9 AM Tags: Euro, Dollar,

The dollar is steady against its rivals as economic data coming from the US yesterday supports the Federal Reserve pushing ahead with a reeling in of its financial stimulus programme. According to analysts there is unlikely to be much movement in the markets ahead of meetings this week at central banks and as the possibility of military intervention in Syria remains on the table.

Following a high of 99.86 yen hit on Tuesday the dollar remains relatively flat at 99.58 yen today and is still 1 per cent up on Monday. Data from the US showed that construction was up in July and manufacturing grew during August at its fastest pace in two years.

At two-day meeting at the Bank of Japan starting today is likely to result a continuation of the government’s aggressive monetary stimulus programme. It has been widely reported that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe intends to push sales tax up from 5 per cent to 8 per cent.

The euro remains at its $1.3173 low of yesterday of at $1.3165. A jump in gross domestic product in Australia for the second quarter of 0.6 per cent saw the Aussie dollar rise 0.4 per cent to $0.9097.

However, the money markets have their eyes firmly fixed on central bank policy meetings in Canada, Britain and the eurozone and on the US to see if approval will be given for a strike against Syria.