Investing.com - The U.S. dollar fell slightly on Monday ahead of an anticipated Federal Reserve rate cut later this week, while a Brexit extension helped lift the pound.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.1% to 97.558 as of 10:46 AM ET (13:46 GMT). The Fed is expected to cut rates for the third time this year when it meets on Wednesday, but investors are waiting for comments at a central bank press conference to find out if policymakers will continue to ease monetary policy.
The Bank of Japan is also expected to meet this week, with its monetary decision being closed watched on Thursday as it faces fallout uncertainty from the U.S.-China trade war. The safe-haven Japanese yen was lower with USD/JPY rising 0.3% to 108.90.
Elsewhere, sterling was higher after European Union Council President Donald Tusk confirmed via Twitter on Monday that the EU has agreed to extend the deadline for Brexit until Jan. 31, 2020, in line with the request from the U.K. government earlier this month.
GBP/USD rose 0.3% to 1.2858 while EUR/USD was up 0.1% to 1.1091.
The agreement is likely to include an earlier exit if a withdrawal agreement is agreed to by the U.K. before, according to various reports.
The U.K. Parliament is scheduled to vote later Monday on whether or not to hold a general election before Christmas in a bid to try to ratify the withdrawal agreement agreed by the EU with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.