EUR/USD
The euro firmed against a weaker dollar on Tuesday in wake of a soft report on U.S. durable goods, though upbeat consumer confidence data brought the greenback up from earlier lows. While Draghi has acknowledged the need for a weaker euro to avoid deflation and make exports more competitive, strategists warn that outflows risk undermining the euro-region economy if they becomes too aggressive. The ECB extended its stimulus measures this month by starting to buying asset-backed bonds, and announced that it bought 1.7 billion euros of covered bonds in the first week of the new plan.
GBP/USD
The pound rose against the dollar after data showed orders for durable goods in the U.S. dropped unexpectedly in September for a second month. U.K. government bonds declined for the first time in three days as the Debt Management Office sold more than it initially planned of the country’s longest gilt with a fixed maturity via banks. The agency received more than 13 billion pounds ($21 billion) of orders for 4 billion pounds of the securities due in July 2068, it said yesterday.
USD/JPY
The U.S. dollar edged higher against the yen on Tuesday, as sentiment on the greenback became mildly stronger ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated policy statement due on Wednesday. The dollar gave up early gains Wednesday in Asia against the yen after Japan's September preliminary industrial output data gained 2.7%, above an expected 2.2% increase on month, for the first rise in two months.
