SINGAPORE - Asian stock markets nudged sideways on Tuesday while the dollar took a breather, its recent gains chastened by resistance from central banks in China and Japan and by traders waiting on U.S. inflation data to signal that interest rates may have peaked.
Both, however, remain near their weakest levels of the year and with the yuan at 7.3022 per dollar in offshore trade and the yen last a little off Monday highs at 146.68 per dollar. [FRX/] " is certainly constructive for yen longs. I refrain from getting too excited at this stage...where the actions are more of a medium-term issue - we won't get the outcome of the spring wage negotiations until April 2024."
"A lower-than-expected print may slow the U.S. dollar's rise while higher print could potentially un-nerve risk sentiments as it would reinforce market expectations for further rate hikes, and this could fuel dollar strength," said OCBC strategist Christopher Wong.Interest-rate futures markets are pricing about a 45% chance of another U.S. rate hike by year's end.
The Aussie, which bounced on Monday with gains in the yuan, was last down 0.1% at $0.6424. The New Zealand dollar also dipped 0.1% to $0.5911. [FRX/]