(New throughout, updates trading and comments to U.S. market
open, new byline, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
By Karen Brettell
NEW YORK, June 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar was little
changed against the euro on Thursday as investors were reluctant
to take large positions before next week's Federal Reserve
meeting and the G20 summit in Japan later this month.
Tepid inflation and weakening economic data in the midst of
a U.S.-China trade war has fed expectations that the Federal
Reserve is close to cutting interest rates.
That has brought the U.S. dollar down from two-year highs
reached in May, yet investors are reluctant to get too bearish
on the greenback without further confirmation that rate cuts are
near.
“I think in order to see the dollar weaken further you need
to see some follow through from the Fed on rate easing,” said
Mazen Issa, senior fx strategist at TD Securities in New York.
The Fed is not widely expected to cut rates when it meets on
June 18-19, though investors will watch for new signals that a
cut may come in July.
Interest rate futures traders are pricing in a 21% chance of
a cut in June, and an 85% likelihood of at least one cut in
July.
The other major catalyst for the dollar in the near term is
whether the United States and China will renew trade
negotiations at the G20 summit on June 28-29.
With international economic growth slowing, investors are
also nervous that U.S. President Donald Trump is now considering
tariffs on Japan and Europe.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director
Christine Lagarde warned that escalating trade tension pose
risks that the eurozone could slip into a prolonged period of
low growth. The Australian dollar dropped on Thursday after a mixed set
of local jobs data were taken as a green light for a rate cut as
soon as July. Currency bid prices at 9:42AM (1342 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1274 $1.1287 -0.12% -1.70% +1.1303 +1.1274
Dollar/Yen JPY= 108.4500 108.4900 -0.04% -1.64% +108.5300 +108.1700
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 122.29 122.45 -0.13% -3.11% +122.5500 +122.1800
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9934 0.9954 -0.20% +1.22% +0.9960 +0.9919
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2683 1.2686 -0.02% -0.58% +1.2707 +1.2663
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3319 1.3341 -0.16% -2.31% +1.3343 +1.3300
Australian/Dollar AUD= 0.6912 0.6928 -0.23% -1.94% +0.6937 +0.6902
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.1204 1.1237 -0.29% -0.44% +1.1249 +1.1201
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8887 0.8894 -0.08% -1.07% +0.8920 +0.8883
NZ Dollar/Dollar NZD= 0.6560 0.6572 -0.18% -2.34% +0.6587 +0.6557
Dollar/Norway NOK= 8.6611 8.6558 +0.06% +0.26% +8.6695 +8.6441
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.7665 9.7725 -0.06% -1.41% +9.7907 +9.7646
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.4866 9.4735 +0.03% +5.83% +9.4898 +9.4644
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.6970 10.6940 +0.03% +4.21% +10.7094 +10.6889
(Editing by David Gregorio)