By Brigid Riley
TOKYO (Reuters) -The U.S. dollar was trading in a tight range on Thursday as traders digested less dovish remarks from policymakers overnight and looked ahead to fresh economic data from the United States.
Overnight, several Fed speakers gave a range of reasons for feeling little urgency to start easing policy in the United States soon or to move quickly once they do.
“For the moment, policy remains well positioned, as we carefully assess the evolving data and outlook,” Boston Fed President Susan Collins said, adding that she believes it will be “appropriate to begin easing policy restraint later this year.”
The market is pricing in an 18.5% chance the Fed will begin to cut rates in March, down significantly from the start of the year, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool. Traders see a nearly 60% chance of a 25 basis point cut in May.
“The markets will be guided by central banks (but) ultimately, market participants will draw their own conclusions based on the fundamentals,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.
“With all of that said, the fundamentals remain strong in the U.S.”
The greenback slipped somewhat after rising above its 100-day moving average on Monday and Tuesday for the first time since late November, propelled by Friday’s surging U.S. jobs data.
The dollar index, a measure of the U.S. currency against six major peers, was last hovered around 104.00.
The U.S. currency will need a fresh push to test resistance levels around 104.60 and 104.80, with the consumer price index (CPI) for January released on Feb. 13 the likely first opportunity, said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG.
The euro was up 0.1% at $1.0782 per dollar, holding above its lowest level since Nov. 14 at $1.0722 hit on Tuesday.
Sterling was little changed at $1.26325.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.25% versus the greenback at 148.53 after BOJ Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida said the central bank is unlikely to raise interest rates aggressively, even after exiting negative interest rates.
The offshore yuan held steady despite data that showed China’s consumer prices fell at their steepest pace in more than 14 years in January.
CPI fell 0.8% in January from a year earlier, but rose 0.3% month-on-month, data revealed.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.5% fall year-on-year and a 0.4% gain month-on-month.
The producer price index (PPI) slid 2.5% from a year earlier in January, compared with a 2.6% slide forecast in the Reuters poll.
“We expect the Chinese authorities to favour maintaining stability in the yuan going into the Lunar New Year holidays, with dollar/onshore yuan likely to remain within the 7.18-7.22 range for now,” said Wei Liang Chang, currency and credit strategist at DBS.
The currency got support as China’s stock market stabilised following the appointment of a new securities regulatory head, buoying sentiment despite the disappointing data.
The offshore Chinese yuan was mostly flat at $7.2100.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin rose 0.85% to $44,564.62.
(Reporting by Brigid Riley; Editing by Stephen Coates)
