Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– The US dollar slipped to a fresh 15-year low of 82.19 Japanese Yen (JPY) and an eight month trough breaking 1.4000 against the Euro (EUR) on Thursday, as expectations of further Federal Reserve easing strengthened following the Bank of Japan (BoJ) rate cut and some weak U.S. economic data.
The Australian Dollar (AUD) surged to a 27-year high against its U.S. counterpart after surprisingly strong jobs data revived talk of a Reserve Bank rate hike, according to reports.
The EUR started the week edging up towards a five-month high against the US dollar (USD) on Friday and the AUD rose near two-year highs after upbeat Chinese data encouraged risk-taking in the higher yielding currencies ahead of U.S. indicators.
Data showed that China’s official purchasing managers’ index rose to 53.8 from 51.7 in August, beating forecast and providing further evidence the economy is recovering.
The USD plunged to six-month lows against the EUR on the same day after a Federal Reserve official said U.S. growth has been generally disappointing.
However, USD recovered some of its losses on Monday as renewed concerns about the stability of the Euro zone overshadowed concerns the Fed may further ease U.S. monetary policy.
Concerns over Euro zone economic health emerged after Irish Central Bank said that Ireland’s economy will crawl to a virtual halt this year, defying Government hopes of modest growth.
On Tuesday, the JPY fell from near 83 levels against the USD on the past few sessions after the BoJ unexpectedly trimmed its rate target and launched a fund to buy assets.
The AUD also tumbled after the Reserve Bank of Australia surprised the market by not raising rates.
BBN/SSR/ANS-09Oct10-9:13 pm (BST)
