Forex - US dollar firmer in Singapore afternoon trade |
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Published
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Tue, 08 May 2007 09:32
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SINGAPORE (XFN-ASIA) - The US dollar had a firmer tone in afternoon trading here, at the end of a subdued Asian session during which players had their eye on tomorrow's meeting of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which they expect to keep US interest rates unchanged, dealers said.At 3.52 pm here (0752 GMT), the dollar was at 119.95 yen, up from 119.78 yen in Sydney nearly 3-1/2 hours earlier. The euro was at 1.3601 usd, down from 1.3615 usd in SydneyWith decisions on interest rates by the Bank of England and European Central Bank (ECB) due on Thursday, the action likely to be taken by central banks remained at the forefront of the market's attention throughout the session.UBS said in a market note: 'Hence the US dollar's near-term trajectory will likely not be determined until the market updates its assessment of major central bank expectations.'Only the Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates, by lifting the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50 pct, dealers said. The FOMC is expected to keep the federal funds rate at 5.25 pct, and the ECB is expected to keep the minimum refi rate at 3.75 pct but pave the way for a rise of 25 basis points at its meeting next month.United Overseas Bank (UOB) said in a market note: 'Once again, the emphasis is on the [FOMC's] accompanying post-meeting statement.'It remarked: 'Since the last meeting in March, the growth-related indicators have been weaker, though not uniformly across all indicators.'And it concluded: 'Hence, the likely changes to the post-meeting statement should be quite modest, mostly to highlight the evolution of current growth and inflation indicators.'DBS said in a market note: 'With the ECB rate hike fully priced-in for June, attention has turned towards the stock markets for leads.'It added: 'Unless the Fed signals a readiness to lower rates, the relative strength of US stocks should start to weigh against the euro.'Singapore 3.52 pm (0752 GMT) vs Sydney 2:27 pm (0427 GMT)US dollaryen 119.95 up from 119.78sfr 1.2130 up from 1.2113Eurousd 1.3601 down from 1.3615yen 163.14 up from 163.06sfr 1.6501 up from 1.6490stg 0.6822 up from 0.6821Sterlingusd 1.9935 down from 1.9961yen 239.10 up from 239.04sfr 2.4181 up from 2.4176Australian dollarusd 0.8292 down from 0.8306stg 0.4158 down from 0.4161yen 99.45 down from 99.48singapore@xfn.com
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Forex - Dollar gains ground in Singapore afternoon trade as FOMC result awaited 