On Thursday the dollar rose against the yen and the euro during
Asian trade, inspired by what investors interpreted as a
slightly hawkish statement from the Federal Reserve in
deciding when to lift short term rates.
The greenback jumped to ¥124.19, its highest since July 21, compared with ¥123.94 late
Wednesday in New York.
It was also higher against the
euro, which fell to $1.0956 midday from $1.0986 in New York overnight.
The stock market’s strong performance in Asia also encouraged market sentiment to help the dollar rise in the morning session.
The Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday left its benchmark short-term interest rate near zero, but provided several cues that it is close to seeing enough improvement in the job market to prompt officials to increase the rate as early as September.
For months, policy makers have been saying they desired to see “additional
improvement in the labor market” before deciding it is time to
raise rates.
In Wednesday’s statement they said they wanted to see “some” additional improvement, suggesting they see themselves nearing their threshold on the jobs front for action.
The Shanghai Composite was last trading down 0.36%, while Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average was up 1.04% at midday.
