The US dollar index decreased against
other major currencies as Wall Street
digested comments from US Federal
Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
In late New York trading on Friday, the euro
was up to $1.1625 from $1.1536 in the
previous session, and the British pound
increased to $1.2847 from $1.2814 in the
previous session, Xinhua. The Australian
dollar climbed to $0.7324 from $0.7245,
Xinhua news agency reported.
The US dollar bought 111.20 Japanese yen,
lower than 111.29 Japanese yen of the
previous session. The US dollar decreased
to 0.9828 Swiss franc from 0.9862 Swiss
franc, and it fell to 1.3028 Canadian dollars
from 1.3093 Canadian dollars.
Speaking at an annual economic
symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming,
Powell sajd the central bank faces two
major risks: "moving too fast and
needlessly shortening the expansion,
versus moving too slowly and riskinga
destabilizing overheating.
I see the current path of gradually raising
interest rates as the FOMC's approach to
taking seriously both of these risks, he
said, referring to the Federal Open Market
Committee (FOMC), the Fed's policy-
making committee.
While US inflation has recently moved up
near 2 per cent, Powell said he sees "no
clear sign of an acceleration above 2 per
cent" and there does not seem to be"an
elevated risk of overheating
Some analysts said Powell's speech
suggested the central bank may be
approaching its neutral federal funds rate,
which means the federal funds rate has
reached an equilibrium where it neither
stimulates nor suppresses economic
growth.
On the economic front, US new orders for
manufactured durable goods in July
decreased $4.3 billion or 1.7 per cent to
$246.9 billion, worse than market
consensus. sajd the Commerce
Department on Friday.
The dollar index, whjch measures the
greenback against six major peers, fell 0.55
per cent at 95.1468 in late trading.