Tom Westbrook

SINGAPORE (Reuters – Thursday’s dollar rally was halted by a rebound in Asia. The week had been dominated by a decline in social media and tech stocks, which lowered investors’ appetite for more risky currencies. Traders awaited European and British central bank meetings.

In morning trade, the risk-sensitive Australian dollar and New Zealand currency fell slightly. Recent gains in sterling and euro were not extended, with the currency being marginally less at $1.1297. At 114.41 dollars, the yen remained steady.

After the bell, shares in Facebook (NASDAQ) owner Meta plummeted more than 20% as earnings and outlook disappointed expectations.

Imre Speizer from Westpac in Christchurch stated that the shares of Spotify and Twitter also dropped and fell by 2%. The decline in demand for Andipodeans currencies was a result, which was reflected in lower share prices.

It was at $0.7120 at the last check, 0.2% below resistance of $0.7180. At $0.6625, the price was 0.1% less. [AUD/]

A holiday in China helped to ease trade in Asia.

The Bank of England (BoE), and European Central Bank(ECB), will make their policy decisions at 1245 GMT, respectively. A news conference with Christine Lagarde (ECB President) is set for 1330 GMT.

Speizer said that “Hawkish results might pressure the U.S. Dollar.” On Thursday, the dollar was at 96.043 and has since fallen to its 50-day moving median.

A 25 basis-point hike by the BoE has already been priced in the markets so market participants will be focusing on the outlook.

Although the ECB will not likely make any policy changes, there are high expectations that they might, particularly around inflation, due to rising consumer prices and strong labor data.

Chris Weston of Pepperstone’s research department in Melbourne stated that, “The odds are clearly rising that the bank opens up the door for normalising policy” and that Christine Lagarde possibly tells us she can not rule out a rise this year.”

“This would allow the bank to be more competitive in market pricing, and it could justify an extended euro position.”

Sterling was hovering at $1.3560. Euros were trading at 83.29 pence each. For the past year, the Euro/sterling Volatility gauges reached their highest levels for the meeting.

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Prices for currency bids at 0211 GMT

Description: RIC U.S. Last Close Pct. Change YTD High Bid Low

Previous change

Session

Euro/Dollar

$1.1302 $1.1304 -0.01% -0.58% +1.1306 +1.1294

Dollar/Yen

114.3500 114.4300 +0.01% -0.50% +114.4650 +114.3500

Euro/Yen

129.23 129.35 -0.09% -0.84% +129.3800 +129.2000

Dollar/Swiss

0.9191 0.9190 +0.05% +0.80% +0.9198 +0.9195

Sterling/Dollar

1.3560 1.3571 -0.04% +0.30% +1.3575 +1.3558

Dollar/Canadian

1.2681 1.2668 +0.12% +0.31% +1.2687 +1.2672

Aussie/Dollar

0.7121 0.7135 -0.18% -2.02% +0.7134 +0.7116

NZ

Dollar/Dollar 0.6625 0.6634 -0.11% -3.19% +0.6632 +0.6610

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