D. Marie On Tuesday, the dollar remained close to a two-month low as traders waited for the confirmation hearing of new Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, while the pound dropped from a two-month high with Brexit uncertainties.
Powell defended the U.S. central bank’s use of wide-ranging influences and indicated a readiness to aggressively move away from a downturn, in comments prior to hearing.
“The market sees Powell as mister continuity … but I think there is some risk around the event,” said strategist John Hardy. “There are lots of hypothetical questions they could ask him … and if he appears on the hawkish side there could be some volatility.”
The dollar rose 0.2 percent against a basket of six major currencies. Optimism for U.S. tax cuts also pushed the greenback as President Donald Trump tweeted that the plans were “coming along very well”.
U.S. stock index futures indicated a higher open, the S&P 500 up 0.1 percent and Dow Jones gained 0.2 percent.
The pound fell 0.2 percent to $1.3291 although the Bank of England proposing that UK banks will be able to deal with a bad Brexit.
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The euro dipped 0.1 percent and Euro zone government bond yields dropped, with 10-year German yields at 0.338.
China’s blue-chip index moved away from its three-week lows from Monday and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.3 percent. Chinese markets were red on Monday, falling between 0.9-1.3 percent.
Hong Kong stocks traded flat, and South Korean stocks climbed 0.25 percent. Taiwan shares closed 0.4 percent lower at one-week lows. The MSCI Emerging Market index was up 0.3 percent.
Nickel drop to their lowest price in over six weeks following weaker demand in China and increased supplies from Indonesia.
U.S. light crude was down 46 cents at $57.65, Brent crude oil was down 59 cents a barrel at $63.25, and U.S. light crude was 44 cents down at $57.67.
