NEW YORK: The dollar on Friday inched upwards on international currency markets as anticipation grew that US interest rates will rise this year.
Toward 2100 GMT, the euro stood at $1.1232, down from $1.1261 on Thursday. The pound bought $1.3268, down from $1.3295.
In a speech, Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston branch of the Federal Reserve and a voting member of the Fed’s policy committee this year, suggested a rate hike could be appropriate to avoid an overheating economy.
His words touched off jitters on US equities markets, which fell upwards of two percent. Fed policy makers are next due to meet on September 20-21, meaning a rate hike could occur as soon as this month.
Vassili Serebriakov of Credit Agricole said the Fed speculation and higher returns on US sovereign debt both supported demand for the dollar.
“It is kind of combination — some hawkish Fed comments and higher US Treasury yields,” he said.
“The overall backdrop has been more bullish over the last few days and so these comments did not really change the trend.
2100 GMT Friday Thursday
EUR/USD 1.1232 1.1261
EUR/JPY 115.35 115.40
EUR/CHF 1.0956 1.0953
EUR/GBP 0.8466 0.8470
USD/JPY 102.69 102.48
USD/CHF 0.9754 0.9726
GBP/USD 1.3268 1.3295
