MW: Euro slips vs. dollar ahead of Spain, Italy auctions
By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch) — The euro gave back some of its overnight gains against the dollar in Asian trading Thursday, ahead of Spain and Italy’s debt auctions later in the day.
Wednesday’s closely watched Portuguese government-bond auction was deemed a success, which helped ease investors’ concerns about the euro zone’s sovereign-debt woes.
Also later Thursday, investors will be watching the European Central Bank’s policy meeting. Read European Central Bank preview
“Although the ECB is unlikely to alter its policy settings, there will plenty of attention on President Trichet’s press statement and comments about ECB bond buying,” said Mitul Kotecha, head of global foreign-exchange strategy at Credit Agricole, in a note to clients.
The euro (EURUSD 1.3088, -0.0040, -0.3046%) slipped to $1.3097 from $1.3129 in late North American trading Wednesday. See real-time currency quotes and tools.
The dollar index (DXY 80.24, +0.21, +0.26%) , which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, rose to 80.201 from 80.016 late Wednesday.
Against the yen, the dollar (USDYEN 83.0900, +0.1200, +0.1446%) edged down to ¥83.07 from ¥83.25 late Wednesday.
Dollar sentiment got a lift earlier in the session after the release of data showing Japanese core machinery orders, considered a leading indicator of corporate capital investment, fell 3.0% in November from October. That compared with economists’ expectations for a rise. Read more on Japan core machinery orders.
The British pound (GBPUSD 1.5741, -0.0020, -0.1269%) rose to $1.5748 from $1.5602 late Wednesday.
The Australian dollar (AUDUSD 0.9937, -0.0021, -0.2108%) fell to 99.46 U.S. cents from 99.58 cents late Wednesday.
The South Korean won initially rose after the Bank of Korea surprised markets by raising its policy interest rate by a quarter point to 2.75%, with the U.S. dollar easing below the 1,111-won level. Read more on South Korea rate hike.
But the won quickly recovering and was trading at 1,113.95 won in the afternoon, up 0.3% from Wednesday. Reports cited foreign-exchange traders as saying South Korea authorities appear to have directly intervened in the currency market to stem the won’s gains.
In other Asian currencies, China’s central bank set the dollar-yuan parity rate at 6.5997 Thursday, a record low for the second straight day. It was set at 6.6128 Wednesday, ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s state visit to the U.S. next week.
