TOKYO (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar has seen small gains since the beginning of the week on Tuesday as a ruling in money markets ahead of major central bank meetings, with a two-day Federal Reserve rally starting later in the week. global day.
The greenback rallied just below its highest level since June against the yen and confirmed a position of around $ 1.19 per euro in quiet trading.
The Bank of Japan and the Bank of England are expected to meet this week.
Bitcoin was back around $ 55,000 after falling from a weekend high of nearly $ 62,000.
The firm tone for the dollar despite a decline in U.S. benchmark yields came from the highest levels in more than a year ahead of the Fed meeting.
Policymakers are unlikely to deviate from monetary policy despite an expected forecast of rapid economic growth in 2021 due to accelerated COVID-19 vaccine deployment and a $ 1.9 trillion pandemic relief package going to consumers -payment of taxes and others.
There will be a particular focus on any ideas about running yields, which have risen on a faster growth bet and inflation will encourage the central bankers to move faster than they have so far indicated in normalization policy.
“Markets are (largely) marking time ahead of the FOMC meeting,” which “keeps investors a little cautious,” Rodrigo Catril, foreign exchange strategist of the National Bank of Australia, wrote in a messenger note.
“There is a lot of focus on whether the new projections and dots will confirm the current lift in Fed hike expectations. ”
The Treasury’s 10-year benchmark yield, which reached 1.6420% at the end of last week, was last at 1.6073%.
The dollar remained unchanged at 109.170 yen early in Tuesday’s Asian session, after rising as high as 109.365 overnight. The BOJ will begin a two-day policy meeting on Thursday, along with an extensive policy review.
The euro was broadly flat at $ 1.19255, lamenting below $ 1.20 since March 5. European vaccine distribution was halted by a ban on AstraZeneca PLC images in Germany, France and in other countries amid concerns about possible side effects.
Bitcoin, meanwhile, slipped further to around $ 54,782 on Tuesday, after jumping to a higher $ 61,781.83 on Saturday.
Reciting with Kevin Buckland; Edited by Christopher Cushing