Asian session review: the US dollar rose moderately against most currencies

During today's Asian trading, the US dollar rose against the pound, Australian and New Zealand dollars, but was almost unchanged against the euro and yen.

According to the results of the June meeting, the Bank of Japan kept unchanged the key parameters of monetary policy - the short-term interest rate on deposits of commercial banks in the Central Bank at -0.1% per annum, the target yield of ten-year government bonds of Japan - about zero.

At the same time, the regulator extended a special program to support businesses in the context of the pandemic, which was supposed to end in September, for six months - until the end of March 2022, amid concerns about another outbreak of coronavirus.

The pound fell 0.35% against the US dollar on the back of the UK data. According to the report from Office for National Statistics, retail sales volumes declined by 1.4% between April and May 2021 following a sharp increase in April when retail restrictions were eased; despite the monthly decline, over April and May combined. Economists had expected a 1.6% increase. Average total retail sales volumes were still 7.7% higher than in March 2021, and were 9.1% higher than in February 2020 before the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Retail sales volumes in May 2021 were 24.6% higher than in May 2020, which was affected by the first national lockdown when the tightest restrictions were in place; however, these growth rates are distorted by base effects and are not a reliable guide.

The ICE index, which tracks the dollar's performance against six currencies (euro, swiss franc, yen, canadian dollar, pound sterling and swedish krona), rose 0.13% to 92.01.