Dollar mixed in Asia ahead of Fed meet
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
TOKYO, June 24 (AFP): The dollar was mixed in sluggish Asian trade today with market participants waiting for a Federal Reserve meeting for clues on the direction of US interest rates, dealers said.
The dollar firmed to 108.05 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade from 107.87 in New York late on Monday.
The euro rose to 1.5522 dollars from 1.5513 and to 167.68 yen after 167.36.
The Fed was due to open a two-day meeting Tuesday, with dealers expecting US interest rates to be left unchanged at 2.0 per cent.
"All of the players are now paying attention to the policy statement, trying to gauge how seriously the Fed will hint at a future rate hike," said Resona Bank senior client manager Shigeru Nakane.
The Fed has slashed its key rate by 3.25 per centage points since the subprime, or high-risk, mortgage crisis erupted in mid- 2007.
While market players have scaled back their expectations of a series of US rate hikes this year, they still see a chance of one or two quarter-point rate rises by the end of 2008 to keep inflation under control, dealers said.
The dollar firmed to 108.05 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade from 107.87 in New York late on Monday.
The euro rose to 1.5522 dollars from 1.5513 and to 167.68 yen after 167.36.
The Fed was due to open a two-day meeting Tuesday, with dealers expecting US interest rates to be left unchanged at 2.0 per cent.
"All of the players are now paying attention to the policy statement, trying to gauge how seriously the Fed will hint at a future rate hike," said Resona Bank senior client manager Shigeru Nakane.
The Fed has slashed its key rate by 3.25 per centage points since the subprime, or high-risk, mortgage crisis erupted in mid- 2007.
While market players have scaled back their expectations of a series of US rate hikes this year, they still see a chance of one or two quarter-point rate rises by the end of 2008 to keep inflation under control, dealers said.