Dollar up as yields rise, China shifts focus to growth

The dollar was up in early trading Tuesday morning in Asia, following a high reached overnight during the U.S. trading session.

The strengthening of the dollar comes as reports in China suggests the government may be shifting its focus away from tighter regulation of sectors it is concerned about and towards shoring up growth.

With the U.S. Treasury yield curve steepening and bonds with shorter maturity climbing, the dollar rose. The US Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies was up 0.04% to 93.84 by 9:30 PM ET (01:30 AM GMT).

The USD/JPY pair was up 0.14% to 113.85. The yen has been strengthened against the USD over the past few days after hitting the 114-mark last week. Japan’s Producer Price Index for September rose 0.9% year-on-year compared to an expected increase of 1% and a similar increase in August.

In South Korea, The USD/KRW pair fell 0.26% to 1,164.94 as growth slowed. Bank of Korea data showed that the country’s GDP rose 0.3% during the third quarter of the year, compared to the previous quarter. The expected growth, according to a Reuters survey, was 0.6%.

The AUD/USD pair rose 0.18% to 0.7503 while the NZD/USD pair rose 0.07% to 0.7165. In Australia, the ANZ-Roy Morgan Australia Consumer Confidence weekly index fell to 106.8, down from 107.

The USD/CNY pair fell 0.06% to 6.3820.

Concerns are rising in China that power shortages could lead to production stoppages and shortages of products down the supply chain, which could affect growth.

Xinhua News Agency reported an outline of the government’s strategy to deal with the 10 most pressing challenges for the country’s economy. The report provided hints as to the policy direction that the country’s leaders could take during a series of meetings over the next few weeks, including a plenary session of the 19th Central Committee next month and the Central Economic Work Conference.

According to Xinhua, the new priorities are likely to be boosting private consumption and investment, after growth slowed to 4.9% during the third quarter of the year.

“Consumption and investment are the ‘two engines’ to reach larger domestic demand,” said Xinhua as quoted by the South China Morning Post.

The GBP/USD pair fell 0.06% to 1.3759.