The US dollar lost earlier gains against the euro on Tuesday, ahead of a stream of economic releases occurring tomorrow that raised anticipation and reduced investorsâ appetite for risk. The market also eyed the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, which might provide some hints on Trumpâs international trade policies.
The data front was largely quiet today, as the only economic release came from the US Census Bureau. The bureau said that manufacturersâ orders increased 1.0% in February to $476.5 billion. This compared to a 1.5% gain in January, but still matched expectations and had no effect on the market.
On Tuesday, the ADP Research Institute will release its employment report for March at 12:15 GMT, which is expected to show that the US private sector hired 187,000 more employees. The report will be followed by a new reading for the non-manufacturing purchasing managersâ index from the Institute for Supply Management. Investors forecast that the new reading will show that the index slowed to 57.0 in March from 57.6 in February.
The Federal Reserve will also release the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committeeâs latest monetary policy meeting at 18:00 GMT. The minutes are highly anticipated, as traders will search it for hints on the possibility of interest rate hikes in the near term.
Traders chose the safety of the Japanese yen today, ahead of the meeting of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which may raise discussions on currency manipulation or trade agreements. Trump previously said that China uses manipulative strategies to gain unfair advantages for its currency, while on another occasion he stated that the US dollar could be too strong.
EUR/USD traded at 1.0673 as of 21:20 GMT on Tuesday, from 1.0637 at 10:50 GMT, the pairâs lowest level since March 15. EUR/USD started trading today at 1.0668. USD/JPY was at 110.28 at 11:45 GMT, the weakest rate since March 28, before rebounding to 110.69. USD/JPY began the day at 110.68.
The Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the US currency against a basket of its major peers, was at 100.54 as of 21:18 GMT, to remain unchanged from its level yesterday.
If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the US Dollar,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.