Dollar Steadies Monday as French Protests Weigh on Euro; Offshore Yuan Hits Strongest Since June 2022
The dollar steadied from near its lowest levels of the month in Asian trading on Monday, according to Reuters, with the dollar index level at 101.83. The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1225. France suffered one of its worst days of unrest in years over the weekend, and President Emmanuel Macron condemned "shocking" scenes of violence on the sidelines of cost-of-living protests in a televised address on Sunday.
"The weekend unrest matters for the euro mainly through French bonds rather than directly," said Kieran Williams, head of Asia FX at InTouch Capital Markets, noting that the spread between French and German government bonds is already close to 140 basis points. Appetite for the euro is likely to stay thin until there is a clearer outcome on the French budget, he said, with rallies likely to be sold.
Elsewhere, the dollar was flat near 158.00 yen after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said Monday that underlying inflation is "quite close" to the central bank's 2% target. Against the offshore yuan, the dollar fell 0.1% to 6.6811, its weakest level since June 2022, after data released Monday showed China's third-quarter economic growth slightly ahead of expectations. The Australian dollar rose 0.3% to $0.6965 and the pound was flat at $1.3329.
In emerging Asia, the Indonesian rupiah fell for a fourth day to near its weakest level in almost three months, having closed around 18,000 per dollar on Friday. Index provider MSCI last week threatened to downgrade Indonesia from its flagship emerging markets index to "standalone" status, a move that triggered an 11.6% collapse in Indonesian equities.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：50欧元纸币。公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。/ Photo: A 50-euro banknote. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
