Policymakers meet for Wyoming mountain retreat later Thursday * Yellen could set up dollar for test of 102 yen-strategist TOKYO, Aug 25 (Reuters) – The dollar bobbed higher in Asian on Thursday but major currencies continued to tread water ahead of the global central bankers’ gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at which Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen may offer new clues on USA monetary policy.
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MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged 0.2 per cent higher.
Fed officials including Vice Chair Stanley Fischer and New York Fed President William Dudley have expressed upbeat views on the economy in the past week, indicating a rate increase this year is likely and could come as soon as the September meeting.
Analysts said data on Tuesday that showed new USA single-family home sales unexpectedly rose in July, reaching their highest level in almost nine years, had helped the dollar marginally.
Global markets awaited Yellen’s speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday for insight on the USA monetary policy outlook.
“The market is cautiously focused on whether Yellen adopts a hawkish or dovish tone”, said Michiro Naito, executive director of equity derivatives at JPMorgan.
United States home resales fell more than expected in July after four straight months of strong gains, as a lack of inventory limited choice for buyers, but further price rises suggested the housing market remained on solid ground. The central banks will gather in the mountain resort of Jackson Hole later this week.
Taiwan led regional gainers in Asian stock markets with a rise of 0.8 per cent thanks to a bounce in financials, while Chinese stocks were among the top losers, falling almost 1 per cent to extend their slide this week.
In equities, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.86 percent to 3,059.25 recently. Trading ranged at $1,322.95-1,326.88 so far – the lower end being a fresh four-week low for the yellow metal. “Will what she says be different?”
The greenback was little changed at 100.540 yen JPY= .
In other commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price rose 0.11 percent to $48.99 per barrel, while the Texas light sweet crude slipped 0.06 percent to $46.74 recently on Thursday.
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United States crude CLc1 was a shade firmer at $46.80 a barrel following a roughly 3 per cent drop overnight after an unexpectedly large inventory build in the world’s biggest oil consumer renewed worries about oversupply.
