By Hannah Lang

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The greenback index hovered close to a two-month excessive on Thursday after Federal Reserve assembly minutes left the door open for extra charge hikes and knowledge this week indicated a resilient U.S. financial system.

Traders proceed to intently watch the Japanese yen, which touched the important thing 145 stage for the primary time in about 9 months final Friday, crossing right into a zone that sparked an intervention by Japanese authorities in September and October final 12 months.

The was 0.097% increased on the day at 103.56, after hitting a two-month excessive of 103.59.

The buck has drawn help from a latest run of U.S. financial knowledge reinforcing the view that rates of interest will stay excessive for a while.

Knowledge on Wednesday confirmed that U.S. single-family residence constructing surged in July and permits for future development rose, whereas a separate report mentioned manufacturing at U.S. factories unexpectedly rebounded final month.

Minutes of the Fed’s July coverage assembly confirmed officers have been divided over the necessity for extra charge hikes final month, citing the dangers to the financial system if charges have been pushed too far.

“Whenever you come again to the Fed minutes, there’s a case for the Fed to hike once more in November, however I do not suppose the market needs to commerce round November simply but,” mentioned Adam Button, chief foreign money analyst at ForexLive. “There’s a lot knowledge between then and now.”

Elsewhere, the yen edged 0.12% increased to 146.14 after weakening to 146.56 per greenback, its lowest stage since November, having come beneath renewed stress on account of rate of interest differentials between the U.S. and Japan’s ultra-low charge setting.

The Financial institution of Japan is “reluctant to intervene proper now, however I believe in some unspecified time in the future we will attain the uncle level on dollar-yen, and I believe if it is not proper now, it is positively going to be at 150,” mentioned Kathy Lien, managing editor of 60 Second Investor.

DATA DEPENDENT

The Australian greenback was decrease after earlier sinking to a nine-month low, taking its New Zealand counterpart together with it, on knowledge displaying that Australia’s employment unexpectedly fell in July whereas the jobless charge ticked increased.

The Australian greenback was final 0.44% decrease at $0.64, having tumbled greater than 0.9% to a trough of $0.6365 following the employment knowledge launch. The fell 0.24% to $0.592 after touching its lowest stage since November.

The 2 Antipodean currencies, usually used as liquid proxies for the yuan, have additionally taken a beating over the previous few classes on account of the darkening outlook over China’s financial system.

The Norwegian crown rose from six-week lows in opposition to the greenback and the euro on Thursday after Norges Financial institution raised rates of interest, as anticipated, and mentioned it was prone to hike once more in September.

Towards the greenback, the Norwegian crown was final up 0.22% to 10.60, having hit 10.66 earlier within the session.

The euro was down 0.2% to $1.08565. Sterling was final buying and selling at $1.27275, up 0.04% on the day, after surging on Wednesday on British inflation knowledge.

Regardless of a pointy drop in Britain’s headline inflation charge, key measures of worth development monitored by the Financial institution of England (BoE) did not ease in July, boosting bets the BoE will preserve charges increased for longer.

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Foreign money bid costs at 3:00PM (1900 GMT)

Description RIC Final U.S. Shut Pct Change YTD Pct Excessive Bid Low Bid

Earlier Change

Session

Greenback index 103.5600 103.4700 +0.10% 0.068% +103.5900 +103.0500

Euro/Greenback $1.0857 $1.0878 -0.19% +1.33% +$1.0919 +$1.0857

Greenback/Yen 146.1450 146.3550 -0.13% +11.48% +146.5500 +145.6200

Euro/Yen 158.66 159.19 -0.33% +13.09% +159.2900 +158.6700

Greenback/Swiss 0.8799 0.8800 +0.00% -4.83% +0.8809 +0.8760

Sterling/Greenback $1.2727 $1.2733 -0.04% +5.24% +$1.2787 +$1.2704

Greenback/Canadian 1.3551 1.3532 +0.14% +0.01% +1.3552 +1.3497

Aussie/Greenback $0.6396 $0.6424 -0.43% -6.16% +$0.6450 +$0.6365

Euro/Swiss 0.9554 0.9573 -0.20% -3.45% +0.9577 +0.9553

Euro/Sterling 0.8528 0.8547 -0.22% -3.57% +0.8556 +0.8523

NZ $0.5924 $0.5938 -0.24% -6.70% +$0.5963 +$0.5903

Greenback/Greenback

Greenback/Norway 10.6000 10.6200 -0.22% +7.98% +10.6680 +10.5340

Euro/Norway 11.5112 11.5231 -0.10% +9.70% +11.5970 +11.4863

Greenback/Sweden 10.9409 10.8958 +0.09% +5.12% +10.9487 +10.8558

Euro/Sweden 11.8794 11.8690 +0.09% +6.55% +11.8975 +11.8520