Dollar Remained Steady Amid Surging U.S. Inflation

The start week of Asia on Monday shows that the dollar remain steady, as FOREX traders looking a path between markets' volatile rate reflections and central bankers waiting approach despite surging U.S. inflation.

The next big thing to see in the Federal Reserve's insistence is on Wednesday, when it is expected that the U.S. inflation data will show if consumer growth is rapidly increasing.

Reuters reported that in the Asia session, the dollar was bid against the yen and clawed back some ground lost last week, rising 0.2% to 113.65 yen. The dollar also rose slightly on the euro to $1.1558, though remained below the 15-month top of $1.15135 made in the wake of strong U.S. labour data on Friday. Sterling, which was walloped when the Bank of England (BoE) surprised traders by holding rates steady last week, hovered at $1.3478 after falling as far as $1.3425 on Friday, a five-week low.

Jason Wong, a strategist at Bank of New Zealand in Wellington said, "Central banks have distorted a whole lot of markets, pumping up the equity market and pumping up the bond market." "Currencies are sort of in the middle of all that, wondering what the hell's going on," he added.


"We have reduced the degree of dollar depreciation in our forecasts, especially vs the euro," Goldman analysts said, though they expect the dollar to weaken in 2023 and beyond.

Elsewhere, data showed Chinese exports were unexpectedly strong and imports unexpectedly soft in another indicator of underwhelming demand, especially as China tightens movement restrictions to keep a lid on COVID-19, Reuters added.