* Dollar on the back foot; yen buoyed by global growth fears
* Stronger euro in focus ahead of ECB meeting
* Aussie little moved after RBA cuts rates as expected
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh (Updates prices)
By Tom Finn
LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - The dollar struggled near a seven-week low on Wednesday on rising expectations of a U.S. central bank interest rate cut in response to trade conflict-related risks.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell dropped his standard reference to the bank being “patient” in approaching a rate decision on Tuesday, saying instead it would respond as “as appropriate” to trade pressure.
The Fed rethink weakened the dollar for a fifth consecutive day, lifting the euro and pushing investors into safe-haven assets including the Japanese yen.
But Wednesday’s small moves in the dollar index, which measures it against a basket of currencies, suggested markets had already priced in Fed rate cuts.
“Given the extent of the dovish re-pricing of the Fed outlook and the collapse in U.S. treasury yields in recent weeks, the dollar losses appear fairly muted in this context,” said Chris Turner, head of FX strategy at ING in London.
If global growth worsened, the dollar should benefit from its safe-haven credentials, he added.
The dollar index fell 0.1% to 97.059. It has fallen 1.3% from a more than two-year high of 98.371 touched on May 23.
The European Central Bank meets on Thursday, with investors looking to see how concerned policymakers are about signs of a downturn in growth.
Speculation that the ECB will match Fed dovishness and possibly even announce looser terms for a new cheap lending scheme sent German 10-year government bond yields to a record low of minus 0.2250%.
The euro was up 0.3% at $1.1260, extending gains to a fourth session, and hitting a seven-week high.
Recession fears are sweeping across the world and central banks have in recent weeks cut rates in what could signal the start of a global monetary easing cycle.
Australia’s central bank on Tuesday slashed benchmark cash rates to a record low of 1.25% and signalled willingness to go further if the worsening outlook persists.
On Wednesday, the Australian dollar rose 0.2% to $0.7000 as data showed growth in the Australian economy picked up only modestly in the first quarter.
Last month, New Zealand’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in two-and-a-half years as it moved to support a cooling economy and counter global uncertainties.
Against the yen, the dollar edged down 0.2% to 108.125 yen per dollar, within striking distance of a five-month high of 107.845 hit during the previous session.
Reporting by Tom Finn; Editing by John Stonestreet and Andrew Cawthorne
https://www.reuters.com/article/global-forex/forex-euro-rises-as-fed-rate-cut-bets-weaken-dollar-idUSL8N23C2D2
2019-06-05 10:31:00Z
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