REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
South Africa's president Jacob Zuma.
Here are the major moves in Forex as of Thursday, March 31 8:15 a.m.
- The US dollar index is down 0.3% at 94.58. The currency has now lost 5.5% since the beginning of December. "The US dollar continues to struggle post Yellen and despite attempting to rebound on yesterday's employment data (and Evans' comments to some degree), the dollar index still closed with a -0.34% loss to take its post-Yellen move lower to -1.14%," noted Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid in his daily morning note.
- The Japanese yen is little changed versus the dollar at 112.27 after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda suggested there's no "quantitative limit" to his aggressive easing policy, according to MarketWatch.
- The British pound is up 0.2% at 1.4412 versus the dollar following the release of several data points. The UK's economy grew by 2.1% in 2015, above estimates of 1.9% growth, and its fourth-quarter final GDP reading came in at 0.6%, beating the 0.5% estimate. Additionally, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said that monetary policy alone can't fix the world's problems.
- The euro is stronger by 0.5%, up to a five-month high of 1.1390 against the dollar. Earlier on Thursday, eurozone CPI was down 0.1% year-over-year, in line with economists' expectations. The less volatile Core CPI was up 1.0% year-over-year, above expectations of 0.9%, but still well below the ECB's 2% target.
- South Africa's rand is stronger by 1.5% against the dollar, running the rand's advance against the dollar to 6.4% in March, its best performance in several months. Earlier on Thursday, South Africa's top court ruled against president Jacob Zuma, arguing he defied the constitution when he used $15 million in state funds to upgrade his private home. "...The deepening corruption scandal surrounding President Jacob Zuma could, perhaps counterintuitively, cause the rand to rally further if the markets expect that the controversial president will be forced to resign," wrote Capital Economics' John Ashbourne.
- The Turkish lira is up 0.6% and at a four-month high of 2.8203 per dollar after Turkey's economy expanded at a 5.7% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, above expectations of 5% growth. The recent strength of the lira has come despite ongoing geopolitical turmoil.
- The Canadian dollar is stronger by 0.2% at 1.2933 versus the dollar ahead of Canada's January GDP report, which will be out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists are expecting a reading of 0.3%.