HONG KONG : The dollar edged up to its highest level in nearly two years on Wednesday after jumping overnight on more hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official, while the euro was hurt by the prospect of new Western sanctions on Russia. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six pe
HONG KONG : The dollar edged up to its highest level in nearly two years on Wednesday after jumping overnight on more hawkish comments from a Federal Reserve official, while the euro was hurt by the prospect of new Western sanctions on Russia.
The index gained 0.5per cent on Tuesday after Fed Governor Lael Brainard said she expects a combination of interest rate increases and a rapid balance sheet runoff to bring U.S. monetary policy to a"more neutral position" later this year, with further tightening to follow as needed."Brainard's comments are the proximate cause of the back up in yields and the firmer dollar that we've got," said Ray Attrill, global head of FX strategy at National Bank of Australia.
"But when we talk about the dollar, it's difficult to divorce it from the euro-dollar exchange rate, given its weight in the index, and the euro has been done no favours by the latest talk about broadening sanctions, which is opening up bad news for the eurozone economy," Attrill added.