Asian session review: the US dollar consolidated against major currencies

During today's Asian trading, the US dollar was trading steadily against the euro and the yen. The growth of risk appetite in global markets, thanks to strong statistics on the US economy published earlier this week, as well as the prospects for increasing fiscal stimulus by the US authorities, is putting pressure on the dollar. The weakening of the US currency in recent days also contributed to the decline in US treasury bond yields from 14-month peaks recorded earlier.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday improved its forecast for global economic growth for 2021 to 6% from 5.5%. The forecast for the recovery of the US economy for the current year was raised to 6.4% from 5.1%, the euro zone economy - to 4.4% from 4.2%.

Analysts say that as long as the COVID-19 situation remains difficult in the eurozone, while vaccination is moving fast in the US and the economy is recovering, the potential for strengthening the euro against the dollar is limited.

The focus of the market on Wednesday is the minutes of the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) from March 16-17, which will be released at 18:00 GMT.

The ICE index, which tracks the dynamics of the dollar against six currencies (euro, swiss franc, yen, canadian dollar, pound sterling and swedish krona), rose by 0.02%.