US Dollar Down Ahead of Biden’s Inauguration Day

The US dollar failed to gain some upward momentum ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration day as the 46th President of the United States.

Investors are currently digesting the statement from US Treasury Secretary Nominee Janet Yellen released earlier.

She urged policymakers to act big on the stimulus measures to keep the economy afloat and dismissed fears on debt burden.

Yellen asserted that the economy needs a more generous monetary cushion amid the still flagging indicators to stimulate consumer spending.

With the prospects on a greater stimulus package, the USD index shed off 0.2% to 90.278. Nevertheless, it still lays steady above the 90-point threshold, away from multi-year lows where it played in the previous weeks.

The latest blow on the greenback sent the USD JPY pair to slash 0.1% to 103.75. The fall came as the Bank of Japan is scheduled for a rate-setting meeting this coming Thursday.

Across the Pacific, the Aussie benefits as the risk sentiment yet again crawls back to the center stage.

It edged higher by 0.6% to 0.7736 in the latest update. The currency managed to make strides for the day despite the lukewarm results in the Westpac Consumer Confidence Index.

The economic indicator fell by 4.5% to 107 points in the incumbent month compared to its 112.0 settlement in December.

Experts in the country noted that continued border closures and new hikes in daily infections weighed on market sentiment.

In the old continent, the euro finally made a comeback to the green as it added 0.2% to 1.2154. Similarly, the GBP/USD pair hiked by 0.3% to 1.3670 in the foreign exchange latest charts.

Events that Could Potentially Affect the USD

Meanwhile, the dollar and Chinese yuan pair remain steady at 6.4836. The People’s Bank of China released its first monetary policy decision for the year.

The central bank kept loan prime rates in the status quo, in accordance with its initial promise to avoid significant changes for the year.

Such a decision is in support of the Communist Party’s vision of a steady path towards economic recovery along with the havoc of the pandemic.

Other events currently anticipated that could affect the performance of the USD against its counterparts are set to happen within the week.

Among the mostly-anticipated is the European Central Bank’s rate-setting meeting on Thursday, happening alongside the BOJ in Asia.

The focus remains on the decision on bond purchases, among other things.