ecglcd

  France, Singapore and Switzerland have launched a joint trial of their experimental central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the first cross-regional trial of its kind. The project, which will run for around six months, will use what are known as automated market makers (AMM) for the cross-border exchange of "hypothetical" Swiss franc, euro and Singapore dollar CBDCs. AMM protocols are designed to combine pooled liquidity with algorithms to determine the prices between two or more digitally tokenised assets such as currencies. They are seen as having the potential to be the backbone of the financial market infrastructure needed for digital currencies to be traded between countries. Cecilia Skingsley, at the Bank for International Settlements central bank umbrella group overseeing the project, which aims to deliver proof of concept by the middle of next year, said it marked the first collaboration across regions and that she expected more to follow. Around 90% of the world...

  The dollar regained some strength on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said it was premature to discuss a pause in its hiking of interest rates to battle rising consumer prices, as there is "no sense that inflation is coming down." The Fed, as markets had expected, raised its key lending rate by 75 basis points for the fourth straight time after a two-day meeting of policy-makers. Markets initially read the Fed's statement at the end of the meeting as dovish and a signal that future rate increases to tame high inflation could be made in smaller increments. Yet Powell made clear at the press conference after the statement that a mistake in not tightening monetary policy enough would risk dealing with entrenched inflation. "If you undertighten, it is a year or two down the road you realize you haven't got inflation under control," he said. A change in pace in rate hikes could come at the Fed's next meeting in December, Powell said. But ...

Ecglcd：Chinese Yuan Weighed Down by COVID Jitters, Yen Mixed on Dovish BoJ China’s yuan lagged gains in its Asian peers on Friday as the country introduced new COVID lockdown measures, while the yen saw volatile trade amid dovish signals from the Bank of Japan (BoJ). The yuan was largely flat to the dollar as Chinese cities including Guangzhou and Wuhan rolled out new curbs to stem a recent spike in COVID-19 cases. The move increases uncertainty over the Chinese economy, which is still reeling from a slew of lockdowns this year. But the offshore yuan rose 0.2% on Friday, with broader Asian currencies benefiting from weaker U.S. Treasury yields in the wake of strong GDP data. The Indian rupee and Singapore dollar rose 0.2% each, with both units also set for a positive week. The Japanese yen recovered from intraday losses to trade up 0.1% at 146.19, after the BoJ held interest rates at ultra-low levels as expected. The central bank also raised its inflation forecast for 2022, indicating ...

  Ecglcd：Euro slips below parity, yen steady ahead of BOJ The euro held below parity on Friday as investors eyed a potential slowdown in future rate hikes by the European Central Bank, while the yen was on track for its best week in over two months ahead of a key central bank policy decision. The euro was last 0.05% lower at $0.9960, following a more than 1% slide overnight, after the ECB raised rates by 75 basis points, as expected, but took a more dovish tone on its rate outlook. The central bank dropped a reference to increasing rates "over the next several meetings" that had been in its September statement, which traders took to mean that a series of large rate hikes was nearing an end. "The ECB policy decisions were less hawkish than most had expected. Most of the surprise came, really, from the comments from Christine Lagarde saying that the ECB has already made substantial progress in withdrawing policy stimulus," said Carol Kong, a currency strategist at Com...

  Ecglcd：Argentina strikes $5 billion China currency swap extension Argentina has agreed to expand its currency swap deal with China by $5 billion, the South American country's President Alberto Fernandez said on Tuesday, a move that would give it more firepower to defend the embattled local peso. Argentina's government needs to rebuild depleted foreign reserves to cover trade costs and future debt repayments. Rebuilding reserves is also a key objective of a major debt deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "Today President Xi (Jinping) informed us that he authorized the Chinese government to make 35 billion yuan, meaning $5 billion, freely available to Argentina," Fernandez said after meeting Xi at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Bali. China is Argentina's second biggest trade partner and the second most important destination for Argentine exports. Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa added that the currency swap will give the central bank more forei...

  Ecglcd：Asia FX slumps, dollar steadies as Poland strike sours sentiment Most Asian currencies sank on Wednesday as a potential Russian missile strike on Poland drove investors away from risk-driven assets, while the dollar steadied from recent losses as investors sought safe haven in the greenback. The dollar index and dollar index futures both steadied around 106.58, recovering from mild losses in the prior session, while gold also saw increased bids. Wednesday’s gains saw the dollar brush off data that showed U.S. producer inflation at a 14-month low. The reading gave further credence to bets that inflation has likely peaked in the country, which is expected to elicit a less hawkish stance by the Federal Reserve. Several Fed members also called for smaller rate hikes, while bets that the Fed will enact a smaller, 50 basis point hike in December grew sharply this week. While this scenario is positive for Asian currencies in the near-term, sentiment was battered on Wednesday as a...

  Ecglcd：Dollar stabilizes after strong retail sales; sterling awaits Hunt's speech The U.S. dollar stabilized in early European trade Thursday, after early gains as strong U.S. retail data and hawkish comments by Federal Reserve officials cast doubt about the U.S. central bank pausing interest rate hikes in the near future. At 03:55 ET (08:55 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, edged lower to 106.030, still above the three-month low of 105.30 earlier in the week. U.S. data, released Wednesday, showed October retail sales rose 1.3%, more than expected, suggesting that the U.S. economy was holding up despite soaring inflation, denting hopes for a pause in rate increases. Additionally, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly said pausing the hiking cycle is off the table, and the U.S. central bank's policy rate could end up in the 4.75%-5.25% range, up from the current range of 3.75%-4%. Kansas City Fed Presi...

  Asian currencies rose slightly on Friday as they recovered from a series of bruising sessions, with sentiment remaining constrained after hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve drummed up fears of more rate-hike action by the central bank. China’s yuan was among the best performers in the region, rising 0.4%. But the currency was set to lose about 0.3% this week as concerns over rising COVID-19 cases and softening economic growth weighed. The Japanese yen rose 0.2% as data showed consumer inflation surged to a 40-year high in October. The reading, which heralds increasing pressure on the Japanese economy, drove speculation that the Bank of Japan may be forced into eventually tightening monetary policy. The bank has maintained ultra-low interest rates for the better part of a decade, and has so far given no indication that it plans to raise them. But this has also caused a sharp decline in the yen this year, as rising interest rates in other countries saw traders sell the yen in...

  The U.S. dollar traded in a tight range in early European trading Thursday ahead of the release of widely-watched U.S. inflation data, while sterling edged lower ahead of the potential end of the Bank of England's emergency bond-buying program. At 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, edged 0.1% higher to 113.332, remaining close to a 20-year peak. The dollar remains in demand after minutes of the central bank’s September meeting showed on Wednesday that policymakers unanimously agreed on the need for more monetary tightening to combat inflation. “This is the narrative that is keeping the general trend in risk assets bearish and the dollar supported, and we do not expect it to change until 1Q23 at the earliest,” said analysts at ING, in a note. The main focus Thursday will be on the release of the latest U.S. inflation data, which is expected to show that annual CPI inflation remained above 8% in September, re...

  Japan is ready to take "decisive" action against rapid yen declines and is focusing on volatility rather than levels in deciding whether to intervene again, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said. Suzuki said he told his G7 and G20 counterparts that Japan was "deeply worried about sharply rising volatility" in the currency market. "We cannot tolerate excessive volatility in the currency market driven by speculative moves. We're watching currency moves with a strong sense of urgency," Suzuki told reporters on Wednesday after attending the G7 finance leaders' meeting in Washington. "It's not as if we have a specific (dollar/yen) level in mind. Instead, we're looking at volatility." Japan intervened in the currency market last month to arrest sharp yen falls, driven largely by the policy divergence between aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes and the Bank of Japan's resolve to keep monetary policy ultra-loose. Markets are focusin...