The data came after the Fed on Wednesday raised rates by 25 basis points and said it had turned a corner in the fight against inflation, leading investors to price in a slowdown in the pace of rate hikes going forward. On Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she saw a path for avoiding a U.S. recession, with inflation coming down significantly and the economy remaining strong, given the strength of the U.S. labor market. The Turkish lira, under pressure from geopolitical risks and surprise inflation readings out of the country, briefly slipped to a record low of 18.85 , in early trade, as a major earthquake hit the region.
Sterling was about flat on the day at $1.203, just shy of a one-month low, as traders look to British growth data and remarks from Bank of England policymakers about the pace of interest rate hikes for clues to the outlook for the British currency. The yen fell more than 1% against the U.S. dollar after the Nikkei newspaper reported, citing anonymous government and ruling party sources, that Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya was being sounded out to be the next governor.
In a news conference on Monday, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki said there was no truth to the Nikkei report. Amamiya is considered the "most dovish among the contenders, which is thrashing hopes that BOJ policy normalisation could progress under the new chief," Saxo strategists said. Meanwhile, bitcoin was little changed on the day at $22,837, remaining close to the more than five-month high of $24,258 touched last week. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ World FX rates ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Additional reporting by Joice Alves in London and Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Tomasz Janowski and Andrea Ricci)
1971; Reuters Messaging: saqib.ahmed.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))