Dollar Up, With Investors Anticipating Fresh U.S. Stimulus Measures

THIS WEEK IN THE FOREX MARKETS

Dollar Up, With Investors Anticipating Fresh U.S. Stimulus Measures

Investing.com – The dollar was up on Monday morning in Asia, with investors awaiting the results of a U.S. Congress debate over fresh COVID-19 stimulus measures later in the week.

Debate over the bill started last week, with some current measures due to expire at the end of July. But Republicans and Democrats are already in disagreement, with Republicans wanting the bill to cost no more than $1 trillion while the Democrats want measures totaling around $3 trillion.

“We see more political pressure on the Republicans to compromise on Democratic objectives because Republicans are trailing badly in polls... Senate Republicans are not in a position to hold back stimulus,” Steven Englander, head of global FX strategy at Standard Chartered (OTC:SCBFF) Bank New York branch, warned in a report.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 numbers continue a never-ending climb. There are almost 14.5 million COVID-19 cases and over 600,000 deaths globally as of July 20, according to Johns Hopkin University data. Dampened hopes of a quick recovery also saw investors turning to the safe-have asset.

The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies gained 0.23% to 96.112 by 12:01 AM ET (5:01 AM GMT).

The USD/JPY pair was up 0.36% to 107.38. The pair was unaffected by the release of Japanese trade data earlier in the day that showed a worse-than-expected 26.2% decline in June exports year-on-year. Read more...