-Dollar falls on more unwinding of bullish bets after Fed
* Last weeks dovish Fed statement still weighing on dollar
* Euro strengthens after Draghi comments
By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar fell for a
second straight session against a basket of major currencies on
Monday after traders unwound bullish dollar positions on the
likelihood that Federal Reserve policy will be accommodative
over the near term.
The dollar added to its losses against the euro following a
Fed statement on March 18 that suggested a less aggressive
timetable for hiking interest rates. Last week was the dollars
worst week against the euro since late 2011.
The market is still positioned long dollars, short euros,
so its vulnerable to any kind of correction, said David
Gilmore, partner at Foreign Exchange Analytics in Essex,
Connecticut, on the unwinding of long-dollar bets. The dollars
weakness against the euro last week came after it hit 12-year
highs against the currency.
The euro continued to strengthen against the dollar after
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said he expected
consumer prices to rise gradually by the end of the year even if
they might remain very low or negative in the months ahead.
ID:nL6N0WP3O0
Analysts said traders took this as a sign that the ECB may
end its bond-buying scheme early, though Draghi said it intended
to carry out purchases at least until end-September.
Draghis optimistic comments...added fuel to the recovery
in the euro, said Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset
Management in New York.
Lien also said that traders who had bet against or shorted
the euro repurchased the currency ahead of Tuesdays release of
euro zone manufacturing data for March. She said traders
anticipated that the data could show improvement on the heels of
stronger German industrial production data, which would support
the euro further. ID:nL5N0W80L7
The euro was last up 1.31 percent against the dollar at
$1.09650 EUR=EBS , not far from a nearly two-week high of
$1.10625 hit last week. The dollar was last down 0.24 percent
against the Japanese yen at 119.750 yen JPY=EBS .
The dollar was down 1.2 percent against the Swiss franc
CHF=EBS at 0.96460 franc, not far from a two-week low of
0.96295 franc hit last week. The dollar index, which measures
the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last
down 1.07 percent at 96.860.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks were little changed, with the
SP 500 .SPX last up 0.06 percent. Benchmark 10-year U.S.
Treasury notes US10YT=RR were last up 5/32 in price to yield
1.91 percent. ID:nL2N0WP1FA ID:nL2N0WP1P6
(Editing by Peter Galloway and Diane Craft)
((Sam.Forgione@thomsonreuters.com; +1-646-223-6189; Reuters
Messaging: sam.forgione.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
* Last weeks dovish Fed statement still weighing on dollar
* Euro strengthens after Draghi comments
By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar fell for a
second straight session against a basket of major currencies on
Monday after traders unwound bullish dollar positions on the
likelihood that Federal Reserve policy will be accommodative
over the near term.
The dollar added to its losses against the euro following a
Fed statement on March 18 that suggested a less aggressive
timetable for hiking interest rates. Last week was the dollars
worst week against the euro since late 2011.
The market is still positioned long dollars, short euros,
so its vulnerable to any kind of correction, said David
Gilmore, partner at Foreign Exchange Analytics in Essex,
Connecticut, on the unwinding of long-dollar bets. The dollars
weakness against the euro last week came after it hit 12-year
highs against the currency.
The euro continued to strengthen against the dollar after
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said he expected
consumer prices to rise gradually by the end of the year even if
they might remain very low or negative in the months ahead.
ID:nL6N0WP3O0
Analysts said traders took this as a sign that the ECB may
end its bond-buying scheme early, though Draghi said it intended
to carry out purchases at least until end-September.
Draghis optimistic comments...added fuel to the recovery
in the euro, said Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset
Management in New York.
Lien also said that traders who had bet against or shorted
the euro repurchased the currency ahead of Tuesdays release of
euro zone manufacturing data for March. She said traders
anticipated that the data could show improvement on the heels of
stronger German industrial production data, which would support
the euro further. ID:nL5N0W80L7
The euro was last up 1.31 percent against the dollar at
$1.09650 EUR=EBS , not far from a nearly two-week high of
$1.10625 hit last week. The dollar was last down 0.24 percent
against the Japanese yen at 119.750 yen JPY=EBS .
The dollar was down 1.2 percent against the Swiss franc
CHF=EBS at 0.96460 franc, not far from a two-week low of
0.96295 franc hit last week. The dollar index, which measures
the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last
down 1.07 percent at 96.860.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks were little changed, with the
SP 500 .SPX last up 0.06 percent. Benchmark 10-year U.S.
Treasury notes US10YT=RR were last up 5/32 in price to yield
1.91 percent. ID:nL2N0WP1FA ID:nL2N0WP1P6
(Editing by Peter Galloway and Diane Craft)
((Sam.Forgione@thomsonreuters.com; +1-646-223-6189; Reuters
Messaging: sam.forgione.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
