Dollar gains strength against the euro. Interest rates rise in single currency countries – Markets in a minute

Dollar gains strength against the euro. “Hedge funds” bet on the fall of the yen

The dollar rises 0.13% to 0.9317 euros, at a time when investors are paying attention to the speeches of monetary policy makers.

The leader of the Boston Fed, Susan Collins, was the most recent member of the Federal Reserve to comment on the future of interest rates, having signaled, cited by Bloomberg, that the federal funds rate may have to remain at maximum levels of two decades, for longer than expected, in order to face inflationary pressures.

On this side of the Atlantic Ocean, during today, investors should also pay attention to the comments of Piero Cipollone, Luis de Guindos and Elizabeth McCaul (members of the European Central Bank) who will speak this Thursday, at hope of obtaining more clues about the direction of the region’s monetary policy.

The yen continues to fall against the North American currency, devaluing 0.25%, making it necessary to pay 155.8035 yen per dollar. Hedge fund bets point, according to information gathered by the market from options traders on the pair, for the yen to fall to new 34-year lows.

Specifically, the price paid for three-month reverse options (which thus assume a short position) aims for the yen to fall to a range between 160.50 and 161 yen per dollar, a level deeper than 160.17 yen per dollar, which the Japanese currency hit at the end of April.

The renminbi, traded on the onshore market (where the central bank cannot fix the exchange rate, which is determined by the market) drops very slightly (-0.06%) to 0.1383 dollars. The pair’s volatility – measured through options on it – is falling, after the central bank took measures to make short-selling the Chinese currency less profitable.