Dollar recovers force against rivals after China’s measure

18.01.2016

On Monday the dollar recovered against other major currencies after China's central bank unveiled fresh measures to combat rate speculation and increased the official rate of the national currency.

Today, trading volumes are expected to be reduced as markets in the US are closed all day in honor of the Martin Luther King holiday.

USD/JPY pair rose 0.26% to 117.34 after a recent low of 116.73 and Friday’s 4.5-month low of 116.50.

On Monday, People's Bank of China announced that it plans to implement a reserve requirement ratio on offshore banks that hold deposits in the country, as a measure to combat the exchange rate speculation.

In addition, the Central Bank of China also raised the official rate of the national currency against Friday value.

Since August, the Chinese currency fell about 5% against the dollar, triggering fears that a slowdown in the second largest economy in the world might be stronger than expected.

EUR/USD fell 0.20% and is traded at 1.0894.

Investors remained cautious after on Monday, oil prices collapsed below $ 28 a barrel to a 12-year low.

Oil returned to decline due to the forthcoming resumption of Iran's exports after lifting of Western sanctions, causing concerns about growth stocks against global over-saturation and low demand.

The collapse in oil prices continues to put pressure on the Canadian dollar amid growing expectations that the Bank of Canada may ease monetary policy at the forthcoming meeting on Wednesday in response to low oil prices.

USD/CAD was down 0.23% to 1.4507 after rising to near 13-year high of 1.4581 yesterday.

AUD/USD gained 0.30% to 0.6883, while NZD / USD lost 0.08% to 0.6455, being near Friday's three-month low 0.6378.

The dollar fell against the pound, GBP/USD rising 0.21% to 1.4287, and strengthened against the Swiss franc – USD/CHF rose 0.40% to 1.0048.

The USD index, which tracks the US currency against a basket of six major rivals, rose 0.14% to 99.12.

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