The U.S. dollar trimmed some of its early decline after a Federal Reserve official suggested that raising interest rates this summer would be “appropriate” so long as economic data holds up.
The ICE U.S. Dollar index DXY, +0.02% a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rivals, was down less than 0.2% at 95.168 in late trade in New York. It had been down more than 0.3% earlier in the session after a report on durable-goods orders in April showed weakness in its core segments.
The greenback USDJPY, +0.19% firmed to ¥109.74, up fr om ¥109.61 early Thursday. By comparison, the greenback bought ¥110.21 late Wednesday.
The euro EURUSD, -0.0268% traded at $1.1192, slightly up from its late-Wednesday level of $1.1150.
Slower productivity growth may keep interest rates below wh ere they stood before the Great Recession even after inflation returns to its target, a top Federal Reserve official said Thursday.
The comments from Fed. Gov. Jerome Powell, to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, come as the interest-rate debate has heated up in recent weeks. Powell did nothing to curb expectations of a rate increase this summer.
“If incoming data continue to support those expectations, I would see it as appropriate to continue to gradually raise the federal-funds rate. Depending on the incoming data and the evolving risks, another rate increase may be appropriate fairly soon,” Powell said.
Financial markets have a more appropriate reading now on the chances of a U.S. interest rate rise in June than before, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Thursday.
Dollar bulls are now keen to hear from Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who is due to speak at an event hosted by the Harvard University Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at 1715 GMT.
G7 declaration says UK vote to leave European Union would be "serious risk to global growth"
Oil futures dipped further in early Asian trade on Friday, finding resistance at the $50 a barrel mark as investors worried higher prices could reactivate shuttered crude output, adding to global oversupply.
U.S. crude CLc1 fell 7 cents to $49.41 a barrel as of 0033 GMT after settling down 8 cents in the previous session. It touched $50.21 earlier on Thursday, its highest since early October.
Brent LCOc1 fell 9 cents to $49.50. Brent closed down 15 cents, retreating from $50.51, its highest since early November.
Reference: Reuters, Market Watch, CNBC, BBC
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