Asian Session – Dollar broadly weaker ahead of Yellen testimony
After a quiet US session, currency markets saw more movement despite the holiday in Japan today. The US dollar was weak across the board ahead of an important risk event later today. Fed Chair Janet Yellen will make her first appearance at the House of Representatives.
Yellen will be answering questions from US lawmakers, some hostile to the central bank, who will want to know how committed she is to winding back exceptional stimulus measures.
The only economic data released during the Asian session was from Australia which showed that Australian business conditions rose to its highest in nearly three years in January.
AUDUSD rose to a one-month high of $0.9016, getting a boost after the data, up 0.6 percent from late US trade on Monday. The Aussie last fetched $0.9004.
USDJPY opened the Asian session at 102.26 after a quiet US session, then jumped to a high of 102.40 yen. Volumes were thin due to the holiday in Tokyo.
EURUSD opened the Asian session around 1.3645 after a very slow US session. The pair then idled between 1.3640/50 for the first few hours before spiking to a two-week high of 1.3679.
Other major pairs mostly traded sideways as markets await Yellen’s testimony. GBPUSD traded a 1.06404-34 range in Asia and USDCHF traded a 0.89385-0.8970 range.
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