Afternoon Forex Overview
Afternoon Forex Overview
Afternoon Forex OverviewPrevious session overviewEuropean Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet signaled the ECB is likely to increase interest rates as soon as next month, saying he has "nothing to add" from the ECB's policy statement March 3, when the central bank warned that "strong vigilance" was needed on inflation. Economists interpreted the "strong vigilance" language, and Trichet's subsequent comment, that a rate increase was "possible" at the ECB's April 7 meeting, as an indication that a rise in its main policy rate was likely unless something altered the officials' views. Other ECB officials echoed Trichet's remarks Monday, suggesting the ECB will likely increase rates for the first time since July 2008 amid signs that inflation will accelerate further. The U.S. dollar strengthened modestly against the yen, but weakened against the euro. The euro was trading recently at USD1.4189, down from USD1.4168 late Friday in New York. The euro had dipped earlier after a senior official in a euro-zone government said that Portugal will likely seek a bailout from its European Union partners and the International Monetary Fund by June at the latest. Monday morning, the euro was at USD1.4155 from USD1.4182 late Friday. The dollar was at JPY81.24 from JPY80.59. The Canadian dollar was sharply higher early Monday, boosted by relative calm in the nuclear crisis in Japan and the outlook for higher commodity prices amid the conflict in Libya. The U.S. dollar was at USD0.9760, from USD0.9859 late Friday. |
