08.03.2024
Dollar falls ahead of US Non-Farm Payrolls release
08.03.2024
Mirjan Hipolito
Cryptocurrency and stock expert

​The Dollar Index (DXY) fell sharply in Friday's trading after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in a speech to Congress that interest rates could be cut soon. 

 The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of global currencies, fell to 102.84.

 At the same time, traders were in no hurry to make big trades ahead of US employment data that could confirm or deny market expectations of a US interest rate cut by June, Reuters reported.

 On Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to keep its benchmark interest rate at 4% and signaled a cut in June.

 Despite the ECB's decision, the euro fell slightly against the dollar as markets believe the Fed has more room to cut rates.

 The EUR/USD is trading at 1.0931.

 The yen rose 1.5% on the week, with the USD/JPY trading at 147.89. The yen's rise is largely due to the fact that the Bank of Japan is likely to cut consumption and production estimates at its March meeting, setting the stage for Japan's first interest rate hike in 17 years.

 "Expectations for a rate hike in Japan have strengthened," said analysts at HSBC.

 The AUD/USD and NZD/USD currency pairs rose 0.29% and 0.11% to 0.6633 and 0.6179, respectively.

 GBP/USD is trading at 1.2818, up 0.09% in the past 24 hours.

 "The dollar now looks more vulnerable... Unless the US jobs report pulls a big rabbit out of the hat to support the dollar, dollar weakness could continue next week," stressed Imre Speiser, a strategist at Westpac.

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