Dollar Retains Strength Amid Lockdowns

Live FX Signals | The US dollar was largely unchanged in early European trade Thursday, holding onto recent gains as new lockdowns in Europe to combat the surge in Covid-19 cases prompted demand for safe havens.

Cédulas de dólar mostradas em Washington. 14/11/2014. REUTERS/Gary Cameron

At 2:55 AM ET (0655 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was flat at 93.403, having gained around 0.5% so far this week.

ECB Leaves Rates, Asset Purchases Unchanged

EUR/USD was up 0.1% at 1.1746, after sliding to a one-week low of $1.1718 overnight, on speculation that the European Central Bank may move up additional stimulus – which many expect for December’s meeting – to today’s meeting.

“The case for even more ECB easing has strengthened further lately, but we still expect the central bank to wait until December with further easing,” said analysts at Nordea, in a research note.

Dollar Down With Investors Looking to Thursday’s ECB Meeting

“What the ECB could do next week is to explicitly commit to a faster pace of purchases, or at the very least give clear signals that more easing will likely be in store in December. The latter step is more likely than the former, and should be enough to avoid a disappointment in financial markets,” the bank added.

Dollar Unmoved as Event Risk Limits Activity

It’s also a heavy day for U.S. data, with the weekly report on jobless claims in focus. Third-quarter GDP will provide for more dramatic headlines, but the data has essentially been overtaken by the events of the last few weeks already.

US Dollar Trades Steady

Elsewhere, USD/JPY was largely flat at 104.28, after the dollar dropped to its lowest level in more than a month against the safe-haven yen on Wednesday.

The Bank of Japan kept its key interest rates and asset purchases unchanged earlier Thursday, as widely expected. However, the central bank cut its growth forecast for the year ending in March to a 5.5% contraction from a 4.7% drop, citing a delayed recovery in the services sector.

Forex Signals – Dollar on backfoot

GBP/USD rose 0.2% to 1.3002, showing some strength as European Union and U.K. negotiators continue discussions over the trading arrangements between the two blocs, raising hopes that a Brexit deal could be reached by early November.