The Investor SA

Dollar pushes higher against Euro/Yen

 

30 March, 2015

by Investing.com 

 

The dollar pushed higher against the euro and the yen on Monday after Federal Reserve Chair

Janet Yellen reiterated Friday that the bank is likely to start raising interest rates later this year.

EUR/USD was down 0.22% to 1.0865, off Friday's highs of 1.0947. In a speech on Friday, Ms. Yellen

said a rate hike may be warranted later this year, but added that weakening inflation pressures could

force the Fed to delay.

 

The Fed chief said policy tightening could "speed up, slow down, pause, or even reverse course"

depending on how the economy is performing. USD/JPY edged up 0.09% to 119.24, off the one -

month lows of 118.32 struck last Thursday. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's

strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.23% to 97.84. The index

slid 0.66% last week, the second consecutive weekly decline.

 

Investors were turning their attention to Friday's U.S. employment report for February, and Monday's

data on personal spending for further indications on the path of monetary policy. Elsewhere, EUR /JPY

eased to 129.59. In the euro zone, Greece remained in focus after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras'

government put forward new reform plans for approval late Friday, as part of a bailout extension

review. Officials from the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central

Bank were to examine the measures after earlier proposals were not accepted