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U.S. Dollar Rises Amid Rising Risk Aversion

22:42, 29th March 2017

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar strengthened against most major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday amid rising risk aversion, tracking the mixed cues overnight from Wall Street and as the UK began the formal process of exiting the European Union. Meanwhile, crude oil prices edged lower in Asian trades after rallying to three-week highs overnight.

Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May's historic letter invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty was delivered to the European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels, thus triggering the Brexit process. The formal process of exiting the EU must conclude in two years.

Wednesday, the U.S. dollar had risen 0.45 percent against the euro, 0.12 percent against the pound, 0.41 percent against the franc, and 0.09 percent against the yen.

In the Asian trading, the U.S. dollar rose to a 9-day high of 0.9981 against the Swiss franc and a 6-day high of 111.42 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.9963 and 111.04, respectively. If the greenback extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.01 against the franc and 113.00 against the yen.

Against the euro and the pound, the greenback edged up to 1.0741 and 1.2431 from early lows of 1.0769 and 1.2450, respectively. The greenback may test resistance around 1.05 against the euro and 1.22 against the pound.

Against the Australian and the New Zealand dollars, the greenback advanced to 0.7655 and 0.7018 from an early 1-week low of 0.7676 and a 2-day low of 0.7044, respectively. The greenback may test resistance near 0.74 against the aussie and 0.68 against the kiwi.

The greenback climbed to 1.3345 against the Canadian dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 1.3325. On the upside, 1.35 is seen as the next resistance level for the greenback.

Looking ahead, Swiss KOF leading indicator and Eurozone business climate index, both for March, are due to be released later in the day.

In the New York session, U.S. GDp for the fourth quarter, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended March 25, Canada industrial product and raw materials price indexes for February are slated for release.

At 9:45 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland releases text of President Loretta Mester's "Payment System Improvement" speech upon delivery before the closed Tenth Annual Risk Conference co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the DePaul University Center for Financial Services, in Cleveland. At 11:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is expected to speak at the US Chamber of Commerce, in Washington DC.

At 11:15 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams will participate in a panel before the Strong, Prosperous and Resilient Communities Challenge (SPARCC) event, in New York.

At 2:00 pm ET, Deutsche Bundesbank Executive Board member Andreas Dombret will deliver speech on German banking sector at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, in Frankfurt.