© Reuters. Euro and US dollar banknotes in an illustrative photo taken on July 17, 2022. Photo: Dado Ruvic/Reuters.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The euro briefly touched a seven-month high on Wednesday but remained stuck in a narrow range as traders held back from making big moves ahead of Thursday’s US inflation data that could provide a clearer picture of the direction of interest rates.
The euro hit $1.07765, its highest since May 31, with the dollar falling recently as traders bet the Federal Reserve wouldn’t have to raise interest rates as much and as quickly as previously expected to tame stubbornly high inflation.
The euro was up 0.15% to $1.07515 at 1930 GMT.
The dollar has lost about 12% against the single since hitting a 20-year high in September as data continues to show that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike is having the desired effect in calming the l economy and curb inflation.
Investors are focusing on US consumer price data due on Thursday. Federal Reserve spokesmen said their next steps would depend on the data.
The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of currencies that includes the euro, changed slightly, rising 0.01% to 103.26.
It got close to a five-month high of $6.7763.
The Australian dollar rose 0.17% to $0.6905 after data showed annual inflation rose to 7.3% in November, leaving room for further rate hikes.
(Prepared by Muhammad Harfoush for the Arab Bulletin – Edited by Mahmoud Abdel-Gawad)
