Dollar steady as Fed chief keeps December rate rise in play

The dollar held steady in Asia Thursday after US central bank chief Janet Yellen suggested that a December US interest rate lift-off was still on the table.

 
                      Dollar Stock and money


In congressional testimony, Yellen said that if the world’s top economy was “performing well” and, if conditions warrant, a rate hike in December “would be a live possibility”.

Yellen’s remarks came ahead of Friday’s release of a key US jobs report for October and as fresh data on the vast US services sector Wednesday supported the view that the economy was on the upswing.
“Solid US data and Yellen’s comments that seemed to support a rate hike next month sparked dollar buying,” Naohiro Nomoto, an economist at Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ, told Bloomberg News.
“The dollar is being bought gradually, with markets pricing in the rate increase as data come out and yields rise. Fed officials appear to be setting up for the move.”
Yellen’s comments took a bite out of some Asian currencies Thursday with the Malaysian ringgit, the South Korean won and the Indonesian rupiah among the units falling against the greenback Thursday.
But the dollar ticked lower against the yen, edging down to 121.50 yen from 121.55 Wednesday in New York, after trading in New York at its highest level since August on Yellen’s comments.