European session review: USD little changed amid lingering growth concerns and Fed policymakers’ statements in support of tapering this year

USD traded mixed and little changed against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday as lingering concerns about the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant and its impact on the global economic recovery subdued risk sentiment, while the latest remarks from several Federal Reserve’s officials indicated that the U.S. central bank might push ahead with its plans to scale back stimulus this year, despite a sharp slowdown in the U.S. jobs growth in August. 

The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), measuring the U.S. currency's value relative to a basket of foreign currencies, stood at 92.65.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the St. Louis Fed president James Bullard said that the Fed should begin reducing its bond-buying program soon, despite weak U.S. jobs growth in August that was impacted by the Delta variant’s spread. “When you’re in a crisis, you have to be prepared for twists and turns,” Bullard noted, adding that he is looking for job gains to average out around 500,000 a month this year.

Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan in a separate appearance stated that, if there is no fundamental change to the outlook by the September Fed’s meeting, then he would support starting to taper the Bank’s asset purchases in October.

In his turn, New York Fed president John Williams said that if the economy continues to improve as anticipated, “it could be appropriate to start reducing the pace of asset purchases this year.”

In addition, the Fed's Beige Book, which was released Wednesday afternoon, indicated that “economic growth downshifted slightly to a moderate pace in early July through August” due to the Delta variant, but “businesses in most Districts remained optimistic about near-term prospects."