Dollar nurses losses vs euro after Fed minutes quash hawks' hopes
The euro EUR= edged down 0.1 percent to $1.1348 EUR=, within sight of its overnight high of $1.1366, its loftiest peak since June 24. It was on track to gain 1.7 percent for the week.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was down 1.5 percent for the week, though it edged up 0.1 percent on the day to 94.245 .DXY. It fell as low as 94.077 on Thursday, its deepest nadir since June 23.
The dollar wallowed close to eight-week lows against the euro in Asian trade on Friday, poised for weekly losses, after minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's July meeting revealed central bank policymakers were in no hurry to hike rates.
Morgan Stanley Says Fed Rate Bets Too High, Buy Five-Year Notes
Morgan Stanley says investors are overestimating the chances of higher U.S. interest rates this year and should buy five-year Treasury notes.
From coin-flip odds of a rate increase by December, the New York-based bank’s strategists predict the probability will drop to 30 percent in coming weeks as inflationary pressures remain absent from the world’s biggest economy. Benchmark Treasuries held gains on Thursday after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting published the previous day showed officials saw little risk of a sharp uptick in consumer prices.
Five-year securities reached the cheapest level relative to two- and 10-year Treasuries in a month on Wednesday, according to the so-called butterfly spread.
Morgan Stanley expects two-year yields to drop toward 0.65 percent as Fed rate-rise bets get pared back, while also predicting the yield curve will flatten, reducing the premium offered by the five-year note.
Greenspan Sees U.S. Interest Rates Rising Soon, Perhaps Rapidly
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan forecast that interest rates will begin rising soon, perhaps rapidly.
“I cannot perceive that we can maintain these levels of interest rates for very much longer,” he told former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt in a Bloomberg Radio interview to be aired this weekend and next.
“They have to start to move up and when they do they could move up and surprise us with the degree of rapidity which may occur,” Greenspan added.
Brent crude oil rises, on track for seventh day of gains
Brent crude oil prices rose above $51 a barrel on Friday to hit an eight-week high and were on track to rise for a seventh trading day, as hopes that producers could agree measures to support crude buoyed sentiment.
International benchmark Brent crude oil futures were trading at $51.17 per barrel at 0647 GMT, up 28 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their last close. Brent prices remain in a bull-run that has lifted the market by over 20 percent since early August. Brent earlier hit $51.22.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, were at $48.69 a barrel, up 47 cents, or 1 percent.
Saudi Arabia's oil exports rose in June as the kingdom kept the market well supplied, pumping near record high levels of crude to feed rising both local and international demand. Crude exports in June rose to 7.456mn barrels per day (bpd) from 7.295mn bpd in May, official data showed on Thursday. The world's largest oil exporter produced 10.550mn bpd in June, up from 10.270mn bpd in May. Saudi Arabia's domestic crude inventories totalled 289.445mn barrels in June from 289.175mn in May, data provided by the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) showed.
Reference: Reuters, Bloomberg, Gulf Times
Thai
Eng