U.S. Dollar Rises As U.S. Debt Ceiling Concerns Linger

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, as lingering concerns about U.S. lawmakers' ability to reach an agreement on increasing the U.S. debt ceiling continued. Traders remain worried about reports suggesting a lack of progress towards a deal.

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters the two sides remain "far apart," with ongoing talks hitting a snag over Republicans' demand for spending cuts.

Traders were also digesting the minutes of the Federal Reserve's May monetary policy meeting, which indicated uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets were also traded lower as U.S. debt ceiling talks jitters.

The U.S. dollar started rising against its major rivals from 22nd May 2023.

In the Asian trading today, the U.S. dollar dollar rose to a 2-month high of 1.0735 against the euro, nearly a 2-month high of 1.2332 against the pound and nearly a 6-month high of 139.70 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.0749, 1.2364 and 139.45, respectively. If the greenback extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.06 against the euro, 1.19 against the pound and 142.00 against the yen.

The greenback edged up to 0.9065 against the Swiss franc, from yesterday's closing value of 0.9050. On the upside, 0.92 is seen as the next support level for the greenback.

Against the Australia and the New Zealand dollars, the greenback advanced to more than 6-month highs of 0.6523 and 0.6081 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.6543 and 0.6112, respectively. The next possible resistance level for the greenback is seen around 0.63 against the aussie and 0.58 against the kiwi.

The greenback appreciated to a 3-week high of 1.3613 against the Canadian dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 1.3594. The USD/CAD pair is likely to find its resistance level around the 1.38 area.

Looking ahead, ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos is scheduled to do a presentation of the ECB Annual Report 2022 at the ECON Committee in Brussels, Belgium at 5:00 am ET.

In the New York session, Canada preliminary manufacturing sales data for April, U.S. GDP data for the first quarter, U.S. weekly jobless claims and U.S. pending home sales data for April are slated for release.

At 12:30 pm ET, Jonathan Haskel, member of the monetary policy committee, Bank of England, will deliver a speech at Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington.