Many currencies, including the majors, were retracing last week’s movements on Monday, leading to little action in the U.S. dollar and euro, as well as a rebound from losses in emerging markets.
Friday trading was dominated by the first inversion since 2007 of the 3-month Treasury yield TMUBMUSD03M, -0.29% and 10-year yield TMUBMUSD10Y, -1.78% which sparked fears about an impending recession among investors. However, it didn’t have much sway on the U.S. dollar, which was kept in the green thanks to a selloff in its biggest rival, the euro, following disappointing economic data.
Check out: The yield curve inverted — here are 5 things investors need to know
On Monday, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.12% was down 0.1% at 96.552.
Similarly, the euro EURUSD, +0.0088% which got punished after weaker than expected manufacturing data for the eurozone and its biggest component Germany, was slightly stronger at $1.1313, versus $1.1305.
On Monday, Germany’s Ifo data for March showed stronger than anticipated assessments of business climate, current conditions and expectations.
The Japanese yen USDJPY, +0.07% weakened against the dollar, after shooting to a roughly six-week high in response to Friday’s action in bond yields. One dollar last bought ¥110.05, compared with ¥109.92 late Friday in New York.
Emerging-market currencies also recovered some of last week’s losses in Monday trading. The Turkish lira USDTRY, +0.4558% for example, which on Friday dropped more than 5% against the greenback, bounced sharply higher on Monday. One dollar last bought 5.5652 lira, down 3.4%.
Read: Turkey’s lira is tumbling amid renewed fears of an emerging-market selloff
In the U.K., the Brexit drama continues and the situation is more fluid than perhaps ever before. According to what the European Union has set forth, the British Parliament could still vote in favor of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal and thereby secure an extension of the March 29 deadline to May 22, ahead of the European election. According to local reports early Monday, May intends to put a version of her withdrawal deal to a vote in Parliament on Tuesday.
The premier has since acknowledged that there isn’t enough support for the deal yet during a speech in Parliament, but said she still hoped to bring the her deal to a vote in the coming days.
The British pound GBPUSD, +0.1061% which had flipped into positive territory on the news of third vote, slipped back into the red as May was addressing the House of Commons. One pound last fetched $1.3184, versus $1.3208.
Brexit Brief: May faces pressure to resign as deal hopes fade
“One of the few definite things in the very fluid situation is that the U.K. will not be leaving the EU at the end of the week as initially intended,” wrote Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex.
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