Asian session review: the US dollar consolidated against major currencies

During today's Asian trading, the US dollar was almost unchanged against the euro and the yen.

Market participants expect the publication of data on the US labor market for April. The Ministry of Labor will release the report today at 12: 30 GMT. According to data released yesterday, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits for the first time last week decreased by 92 thousand - to 498 thousand people. This is the lowest value of the indicator since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ICE index, which tracks the dollar's performance against six currencies (euro, swiss franc, yen, canadian dollar, pound sterling and swedish krona), fell 0.03%.

The index retreated from the two-week highs it hit earlier this week, after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the Federal Reserve may have to raise interest rates to avoid overheating the US economy. Later, Yellen noted that she is not trying to make forecasts about the Fed's policy, nor to make recommendations to the Fed.

The pound rose slightly against the US dollar. The Bank of England at the end of the May meeting kept the base interest rate at 0.1%. The regulator also decided to leave the volume of the asset purchase program at the level of 895 billion pounds, including the purchase of government bonds in the amount of 875 billion pounds. Analysts did not expect changes in the parameters of the Bank of England's monetary policy. At the same time, the Bank decided to reduce the pace of asset repurchases, as some experts expected.