Analysts are now wondering whether Fischer, who was once seen as something of a “shadow” Fed Chair given his illustrious resume, has become somewhat removed from the consensus view at the central bank. The pair has made session high at 1.1171 and hit lows at 1.1131 levels.
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U.S. consumer confidence rose to an 11-month high in August, with households more upbeat about the labour market, in a further sign that the economy was regaining steam after faltering in the first half of the year.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Friday she thought the case had grown stronger in recent months for an interest rate increase, remarks that Fischer later that day said were consistent with a view that the USA central bank might raise rates at its next policy meeting in September.
“The Fed’s more upbeat mood and a summer of record highs on Wall Street have boosted the U.S. dollar’s yield appeal”, Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking, told Bloomberg News.
GBP/USD is supported in the range of 1.3018 now trading at 1.3075 levels.
Vice chair Stanley Fischer even suggested on Friday that a hike could come as soon as next month. The banking subindex rose 1.8% Tuesday but remains down more than 22% this year. It was still on track to lose about 1 percent in August after falling mid-month to a near two-month low of 94.077.
Gold is highly-sensitive to rising United States interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced.
The US dollar rose against other major currencies as recent hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials raised market expectation for an interest-rate hike by year-end. On Wednesday, investors will get the opportunity to gauge the strength of the economy when ADP releases its report on private sector jobs growth. In other news, the USD/JPY was trading higher at 103.234, up 0.284 or +0.27%.
Spot gold prices hit a six-week low of $US1311.65 on the strength in the dollar. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 101.1 this month, an 11-month high.
Platinum has fallen 7.8 percent in August and palladium 3.6 percent. Palladium was 0.8 percent higher at $682.77.
Apple dragged down U.S. technology stocks after European Union antitrust regulators ordered the iPhone maker to pay about $US14.5 billion ($A19.3 billion) in back taxes to the Irish government.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both pared 0.08% while the Nasdaq slipped 0.12% at 9:22 p.m. EDT.
“Now we are waiting for the next big thing, which is payrolls (U.S.jobs data) on Friday”, he added, saying the first batch of Q3 GDP data at the end of October would be key.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes fell 1/32 in price to yield 1.570 percent.
Gold fell to a six-week low on Tuesday after Federal Reserve officials sounded a hawkish note on interest rates, boosting the dollar, while attention turned to US payrolls data this week for further clues on the pace of rate hikes.
The most active gold contract for December delivery fell 10.6 USA dollars, or 0.8 percent, to settle at 1,316.5 dollars per ounce.
Gold is headed for the first monthly decline since May as investors price in the prospect of higher USA borrowing costs by the end of the year and slowing purchases of bullion-backed exchange-traded funds. Gap shares dropped 4.3% and Urban Outfitters declined 2.5%.
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Brent crude settled down 89 USA cents, or 1.81 per cent, at $US48.37 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 63 cents, or 1.3 percent, to close at $46.35.
