Dollar Up, But Moves Small as Focus Remains on Fed Tapering Timeline

The dollar was up on Friday morning in Asia, rebounding from a selloff triggered by the latest U.S. jobs report. However, investors continue to bet on when the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin asset tapering.

The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies inched up 0.05% to 92.530 by 10:53 PM ET (2:53 AM GMT).

The USD/JPY pair inched up 0.07% to 109.78.

The AUD/USD pair inched up 0.08% to 0.7372 and the NZD/USD pair edged up 0.18% to 0.7114.

The USD/CNY pair inched up 0.01% to 6.4523 and the GBP/USD pair inched up 0.08% to 1.3846.

The dollar sank to its lowest level since Aug. 3 during the previous week after the release of the jobs report for August. The report, which was much weaker than expected, reduced expectations of the Fed beginning asset tapering.

However, the Fed could still be on course to begin the process later in 2021, with Governor Michelle Bowman suggesting overnight that the report would not necessarily deter the central bank.

Meanwhile, data released on Thursday showed that Americans filed 310,000 initial jobless claims throughout the week, the lowest number in almost 18 months.

“The Fed looks set to taper later in 2021, underscored by recent comments this week,” TD Securities global head of FX strategy Mark McCormick (NYSE:MKC) said in a note.

However, even with the trend toward monetary policy becoming less accommodative globally, financial conditions remain ultra-loose, which “binds how much room the dollar has to run and favors selling rallies,” the note added.

Across the Atlantic, the euro was flat at $1.18235 and set for a 0.47% decline to end the week. However, ECB’s policy decision, handed down on Thursday, did give the single currency a small boost.

Although the central bank kept its interest rate unchanged at 0%, it indicated it would slow the pace of purchases under its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program in the fourth quarter of 2021.

But with ECB President Christine Lagarde assuring markets that “the lady isn’t tapering” and the decision well within expectations, some investors were not surprised.

“It was a big event for economists, not so much for traders. The volatility was not there,” Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston said in a note.

Euro support at $1.18 “needs to give way for shorts to get any real traction here,” the note added.