(Adds quotes, details; updates prices; changes byline, dateline, previous LONDON)
By Karen Brettell
NEW YORK, March 6 (Reuters) - The greenback slipped against a basket of currencies on Monday as
investors waited on testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and jobs data due later this week for
further indications on how much higher the U.S. central bank is likely to raise interest rates.
Powell’s testimony before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday and Friday’s jobs data “are going to be the
key events this week that really substantiate the data that we got last month with respect to the January”
numbers, said Bipan Rai, North American head of FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in Toronto.
The dollar index has bounced off a nine-month low of 100.80 reached on Feb. 1 as strong data and
still-high inflation leads investors to reprice for higher rates for longer. The index was last down
0.26% on the day at 104.35.
January’s jobs report released on Feb. 3 showed that employers unexpectedly added 517,000 jobs, while
the unemployment rate hit more than a 53-1/2-year low of 3.4%, pointing to a stubbornly tight labor market.
That “seems a bit suspicious at the surface, so a lot of the data that we get this week will tell us
whether or not that’s really more than just suspicious or more than, say, seasonal adjustment trends, and
actually something there that the Fed is getting wrong in terms of how tight the labor market is and what
that means potentially for inflation,” said Rai.
Powell’s testimony will be watched for any new signals on whether the U.S. central bank could
reaccelerate the pace of rate hikes in response to the recent data. After delivering jumbo hikes last year,
the Fed has raised interest rates by 25 basis points each at its last two meetings.
Fed funds futures traders are pricing in a 76% probability the Fed will raise rates by 25 basis points
at its March 21-22 meeting, and a 24% likelihood of a 50 basis points increase. Analysts also note, however, that the Fed may be reluctant to increase the pace of rate hikes again as
it would likely spook investors by indicating that the bank made a mistake in switching to 25 basis point
increases.
The euro was last up 0.35% on the day at $1.0671, while sterling was down 0.27% at
$1.2010.
The dollar gained 0.06% to 135.88 yen ahead of the final policy meeting for Bank of Japan
Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Thursday and Friday.
The yuan dipped after China on Sunday set a lower-than-expected target for economic growth this year of
around 5%.
The offshore yuan was last at 6.9391 per dollar, while the Australian dollar, often traded as a
liquid proxy for the yuan, fell 0.46% to $0.6737 .
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Currency bid prices at 9:56AM (1456 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Dollar index 104.3500 104.6300 -0.26% 0.831% +104.6900 +104.3400
Euro/Dollar $1.0671 $1.0634 +0.35% -0.41% +$1.0674 +$1.0615
Dollar/Yen 135.8750 135.8050 +0.06% +3.64% +136.1850 +135.3750
Euro/Yen 144.98 144.46 +0.36% +3.34% +145.0900 +144.1300
Dollar/Swiss 0.9331 0.9361 -0.29% +0.94% +0.9372 +0.9315
Sterling/Dollar $1.2010 $1.2043 -0.27% -0.68% +$1.2047 +$1.1994
Dollar/Canadian 1.3618 1.3599 +0.14% +0.51% +1.3629 +1.3584
Aussie/Dollar $0.6737 $0.6769 -0.46% -1.16% +$0.6769 +$0.6716
Euro/Swiss 0.9955 0.9955 +0.00% +0.61% +0.9966 +0.9924
Euro/Sterling 0.8882 0.8829 +0.60% +0.43% +0.8887 +0.8827
NZ $0.6191 $0.6223 -0.46% -2.44% +$0.6225 +$0.6173
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway 10.4250 10.3950 +0.43% +6.38% +10.4720 +10.3700
Euro/Norway 11.1254 11.0384 +0.79% +6.02% +11.1417 +11.0452
Dollar/Sweden 10.4566 10.4485 +0.38% +0.47% +10.5059 +10.4389
Euro/Sweden 11.1588 11.1161 +0.38% +0.08% +11.1765 +11.1180
(Reporting by Karen Brettell; additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
