Evergreen buck steadies vs. counterparts in holiday-thinned trade

On Monday, the evergreen buck stood still to a bit higher versus its key counterparts, with a holiday in America providing the worn-down US currency a chance to finally catch its breath.

The US Dollar Index, an indicator of this currency’s value against six crucial rivals, rallied 0.1% hitting 89.191. The previous week, it went down 1.4%, extending its year-to-date decline to approximately 3%.

As for the WSJ Dollar Index, employed to gauge the US currency versus 16 other rivals, it added 0.2% being worth 83.17.

Versus the major Japanese currency, the evergreen buck inched up to ¥106.60. The Japanese yen kept hovering over a 15-month maximum versus the US currency. The previous week, Japan’s currency, which boasts a title of a reliable safe haven asset, tacked on 2.3% versus the greenback, which is its best weekly outcome since February last year, as FactSet data uncovered.

Meanwhile, the currency pair GBP/USD sank from $1.4033 to $1.3989 late on Friday. Meanwhile, the currency pair EUR/USD declined from $1.2409 to $1.2397.

As for volumes, on Monday they were anticipated to be rather thinner than normal, especially considering the Presidents Day holiday taking place this day, which suggests no trading for American equity markets.

A lack of economic reports this week drops a hint that market participants might spend time digesting recent indicators, which have demonstrated the firm American economy is finally starting to push inflation up. The key US financial institution is supposed to have interest rates lifted at its next gathering in March. However, renewed prospects for higher interest rates haven’t managed to give decent support to the US currency.

Monday’s data from Japan disclosed steady improvement in the Japanese economy – in January Japanese exports have been tacking on a 14th straight month.