By Gina Lee
Investing.com – The dollar was on a downward trend on Thursday morning in Asia, reversing some earlier gains.
The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies inched down 0.07% to 92.773 by 10:12 PM ET (3:12 GMT).
The dollar saw its first back-to-back daily gains since June earlier in the session over European Central Bank (ECB) worries about the euro’s recent rise. The euro had rallied ever since the European Union in July agreed on a rescue package for its members to fight the impact of COVID-19, but a retreating euro saw investors trim bets against the dollar.
ECB chief economist Philip Lane said on Tuesday the euro-dollar rate “does matter” for monetary policy, thereby suggesting that ECB action on the rate could be forthcoming.
Some investors disagreed, with National Australia Bank (OTC:NABZY) head of FX strategy Ray Attrill telling Reuters that “Lane’s comments were the excuse for some traders to take profits on long euro positions” that are beginning to look stretched.
And the move downwards justified some investors’ conviction that the dollar’s upward trend would not last long.
“You could put (the dollar bounce) down to a bit of a trend reversal, it’s had a long run downwards ... but if it is a floor, it’s only a short term one,” BNZ senior markets strategist Jason Wong told Reuters.
“It’s probably just a pause. Everyone’s pretty bearish [on] dollars for good reason,” he added, referring to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy shift that will likely result in very low rates over a longer period.
The USD/JPY pair inched up 0.06% to 1106.25. Yoshihide Suga formally declared his candidacy to lead the Liberal Democratic Party leadership on Wednesday, thereby throwing his hat into the ring to succeed incumbent Shinzo Abe as Japan’s next prime minister.
Japan and China both released purchasing managers index (PMI) figures earlier in the day, with both countries seeing slight dips. Japan’s August services PMI came in at 45, slightly below July’s 45.4, and China’s Caixin services PMI for August was 54 against July’s reading of 54.1.
The USD/CNY pair edged down 0.17% to 6.8261.
Investors now await more PMI figures from Europe and the U.S., alongside U.S. payroll figures, later in the day.
The AUD/USD pair edged down 0.14% to 0.7328 and the NZD/USD pair inched up 0.01% to 0.6771. The GBP/USD pair inched down 0.10% to 1.3338.