Investing.com - The dollar held against other currencies on Monday as investors looked to who the next Federal Reserve Chair could be.
Speculation continued about who U.S. President Donald Trump will choose as the next leader of the Fed, with Fed Governor Jerome Powell and Stanford University economist John Taylor being the leading candidates. The greenback was bolstered as both candidates are thought to be more hawkish than current Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Trump is expected to announce his decision before November 3.
The euro continued to fall amid Spanish political uncertainly as the central government said it would trigger Article 155 and impose direct rule over the Catalonia government. EUR/USD was down 0.32% to 1.1745.
The pound was down after Deputy Governor of the Bank of England Jon Cunliffe said the timing of a rate hike from the bank was “an open question.” GBP/USD decreased 0.03% to 1.3101.
The yen was down, with USD/JPY up 0.158% at 113.70 after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won the election by a landslide.
Meanwhile the Australian dollar was lower, with AUD/USD falling 0.14% to 0.7808 and the New Zealand dollar increasing, with NZD/USD up 0.06% to 0.6964.
The Canadian dollar fell after wholesale sales, an indication of consumer spending, rose less than expected in August. USD/CAD advanced 0.13% to trade at 1.2645.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.24% to 93.79 by 11:11 AM ET (4:11 PM GMT).