Forex Today: Dollar gains on renewed taper speculation

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

What you need to know on Friday, August 27:

The greenback ended the day with modest gains against most major rivals. Geopolitical tensions in Afghanistan and comments from US Federal Reserve Robert Kaplan, who said that September would be the time to outline tapering and start it in October, were behind the slump. James Bullard, another member of the central bank, also made comments in the same direction.

Comments from Fed officials fueled speculation about some announcement from US Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell on Friday, within the Jackson Hole Symposium. Powell will likely refrain from anticipating a shift in monetary policy but instead reserve any announcement to the upcoming Fed September meeting. Market participants, however, maintain high expectations ahead of his speech.

The US published the second version of Q2 Gross Domestic Product, which was upwardly revised to 6.6% QoQ from the previous estimate of 6.5%, missing the expected 6.7%. Core PCE inflation in the same quarter was confirmed at 6.1%, as previously estimated.

The EUR was among the strongest USD rivals, while the GBP was the weakest. EUR/USD trades around 1.1750, while GBP/USD pierced the 1.3700 figure. Commodity-linked currencies edged lower on a daily basis, but retain most of their weekly gains. The USD/JPY pair hovered directionless around 110.00.

Gold prices seesawed between gains and losses but ended the day little changed at around $1,792 a troy ounce. Crude oil prices were also stable with WTI settling at $67.80 a barrel.

How to buy Dogecoin: Where to purchase DOGE

Like this article? Help us with some feedback by answering this survey:

Author

Valeria Bednarik

FXStreet

Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.

EUR/USD flirts with daily highs, retargets 1.1900

EUR/USD regains upside traction, returning to the 1.1880 zone and refocusing its attention to the key 1.1900 barrier. The pair’s slight gains comes against the backdrop of a humble decline in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings and the potential Fed’s rate path.

GBP/USD remains well bid around 1.3650

GBP/USD maintains its upside momentum in place, hovering around daily highs near 1.3650 and setting aside part of the recent three-day drop. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the Greenback’s irresolute price action, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborate with the uptick.

Gold clings to gains just above $5,000/oz

Gold is reclaiming part of the ground lost on Wednesday’s marked decline, as bargain-hunters keep piling up and lifting prices past the key $5,000 per troy ounce. The precious metal’s move higher is also underpinned by the slight pullback in the US Dollar and declining US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP in choppy price action, weighed down by falling institutional interest

Bitcoin's upside remains largely constrained amid weak technicals and declining institutional interest. Ethereum trades sideways above $1,900 support with the upside capped below $2,000 amid ETF outflows.

Week ahead – Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

US GDP and PCE inflation are main highlights, plus the Fed minutes. UK and Japan have busy calendars too with focus on CPI. Flash PMIs for February will also be doing the rounds. RBNZ meets, is unlikely to follow RBA’s hawkish path.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.