Wednesday, 23 December 2015

Currencies subdued in Christmas holiday lull, dollar adrift

The dollar, euro and yen were subdued on Thursday in a languid session with much of the Western world already shuttered for the Christmas and year-end holidays, but some players are eyeing the potential for more dollar strength next year.
The euro traded at $1.0922 EUR=, having drifted up slowly from a low of $1.0903. Against the yen, the greenback eased to 120.75 JPY= from 121.00.
Many financial centers around the world will shut early and stay closed on Friday for the Christmas holidays. Some won't reopen until Tuesday. The euro fetched 131.88 yen EURJPY=R and remains hemmed in a 131.83-131.98 range.
The Japanese currency has well and truly gotten over last Friday's move by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to fine tune its massive stimulus program. There was no major reaction to minutes of the BOJ's November meeting.
All that left the dollar index .DXY a touch softer at 98.256, still well off last Thursday's peak of 99.294. It was back at levels seen before the Federal Reserve delivered a highly anticipated hike in interest rates a week ago.
A mixed bag of U.S. data on Wednesday gave the market no real steer. New orders for U.S. manufactured capital goods fell in November, but personal income rose for an eighth straight month. Consumer sentiment hit a five-month high in December.

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