“The Dollar Index rose for a second day before U.S. data tomorrow on first-quarter growth amid speculation the Federal Reserve will curb monetary stimulus.
The Australian dollar fell to the weakest level since October 2011 after the International Monetary Fund cut its growth forecast for China. A gauge of Asian currencies touched an almost eight-month low on concern investors will repatriate funds from emerging markets back to the U.S.
“The dollar is strong,” said Marito Ueda, the senior managing director at FX Prime Corp. (8711), a currency-margin company in Tokyo. “The U.S. economy is steadily recovering, and a reduction in monetary easing appears to be coming into view.”
The Dollar Index, which Intercontinental Exchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against currencies of six major U.S. trading partners, added 0.3 percent to 84.349 at 6:50 a.m. inLondon. It reached 84.498 on May 23, the most since July 2010.
The dollar was little changed at $1.2845 per euro after rising 0.6 percent yesterday. The yen traded at 131.57 per euro from 131.59 and was little changed at 102.42 per dollar. The Aussie fell 0.8 percent to 95.40 U.S. cents, after dropping to 95.36, the weakest since Oct. 5, 2011.
The U.S. Commerce Department is likely to say tomorrow the world’s biggest economy grew at an annualized 2.5 percent pace in the first quarter, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. It would be unchanged from the preliminary reading released last month.
U.S. Growth
U.S. real gross domestic product will probably expand 2 percent this year, compared with a 0.5 percent contraction in the euro region, a separate poll of economists shows. Japan’s economy is estimated to grow 1.4 percent…..”
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