Dollar Up, but Near Two-Week Lows as Fed Taper Uncertainty Continues

By Gina Lee

Investing.com – The dollar was up on Tuesday morning in Asia but remained near two-week lows. Moves were mostly light as August draws to a close, with the latest U.S. jobs report, including numbers, due later in the week.

The that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies inched up 0.01% to 92.662 by 10:28 PM ET (2:28 AM GMT).

The pair inched down 0.05% to 109.87.

The pair inched down 0.01% to 0.7293, after peaking at $0.7317 last Friday. The pair was up 0.38% to 0.7025.

The pair inched up 0.04% to 6.4684. China released l earlier in the day, with the at 50.1 and the at 47.5 in August. The offshore Chinese yuan remained close to its three-week high of 6.4595 hit on Friday.

The pair inched up 0.05% to 1.3765.

The greenback clawed back some of its losses after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell did not provide a firm timetable for asset tapering to begin beyond hinting that it could begin within 2021.

“The jobs report, due on Friday, will be the next highlight given the focus on the Fed’s asset taper. A strong reading will boost expectations that the Fed will give markets prior notice in September before a formal decision in November,” Daiwa Securities senior strategist Yukio Ishizuki told Reuters.

However, numbers that are lower than expected could delay the notice to November with the formal decision following a month later.

In Europe, the for August is due later in the day. The euro traded at $1.1799, near Monday’s three-week high of $1.1810, earlier in the Asian session.

Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar was at CAD1.2610, after hitting a two-week high on Monday as strong oil prices led to a wider-than-expected Canadian current account. Oil prices, in turn, climbed to three-week highs, with re-start timelines for platforms, refineries and pipelines in the U.S. Gulf Coast remaining uncertain after Hurricane Ida blew through the region over the weekend.