Tokyo, May 9 (BNA): The dollar held mostly steady on Thursday as traders kept their powder dry before next week’s US inflation data and what it could portend for Federal Reserve policy, while hawkish opinions from Bank of Japan’s members helped the yen slow its fall.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar has been slowly inching up in recent days after it fell more than 3% last week, its biggest weekly percentage drop since early December 2022, Reuters reported.
But the yen found some support in the BOJ’s summary of opinions released on Thursday, which showed board members were overwhelmingly hawkish at their April policy meeting with many calling for steady interest rate hikes.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was unchanged at 105.51.
Sterling was steady at $1.24975 ahead of the Bank of England’s policy decision later on Thursday.
The BOE is likely to take another step towards its first interest rate cut in four years as inflation falls.
The euro held at $1.0748.
Elsewhere, China’s offshore yuan was marginally higher at 7.2257, after data revealed China’s exports and imports returned to growth in April after contracting in the previous month.
That could mean a potential delay for rate cuts some believed China would need to make to meet its 2024 GDP goal.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin last rose 0.09% to $61,618.12.
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Tags: Dollar firm CPI data looms hawkish BOJ policymakers pause yen slide
