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* Euro steady below $1.16; dollar/yen above 111.00
* Sterling licking wounds, heads for worst week in a month
By Anushka Trivedi and Tom Westbrook
SINGAPORE, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The dollar began the last
quarter of 2021 near its highest levels of the year, and was
headed for its best week since June as investors expected a
hawkish-sounding Federal Reserve to lift U.S. interest rates
sooner than its major peers.
Cautious market sentiment due to COVID-19 concerns, wobbles
in China"s growth and a Washington gridlock ahead of a looming
deadline to lift the U.S. government"s borrowing limit also lent
support to the dollar which is seen as a safe-haven asset.
The dollar index stood at 94.287, having gained 1.1%
so far this week, the largest weekly rise since late June.
The euro was steady on Friday at $1.1578, but has
fallen about 1.3% during the week, and through major support
around $1.16, to touch its lowest levels since July 2020.
The yen bounced from a 19-month low overnight but
has lost 0.6% for the week and twice as much in a fortnight as a
rise in U.S. Treasury yields has drawn flows from Japan into
dollars. It last traded at 111.21 per dollar.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields are up for a
sixth straight week and real 10-year yields,
discounted for inflation, are rising far more quickly than
counterparts in Europe.
"As long as markets remain confident that the U.S. is going
to start tightening monetary policy within a reasonable
timeframe, the dollar should remain well," said Societe Generale
strategist Kit Juckes.
"The prospect of the European Central Bank keeping rates
below zero while the Fed hikes should keep euro/dollar in the
post-2014 range, with a centre of gravity around $1.12-1.16," he
said.
Commodity currencies made a bounce on the dollar on Thursday
following a Bloomberg report which said China had ordered energy
companies to secure supplies for the winter at all costs, but
were back under pressure on Friday.
Beijing is scrambling to deliver more coal to utilities to
restore supply amid a power crunch that has unsettled markets
due to the likely hit to economic growth.
The Australian dollar fell 0.3% to $0.7203 and had
slumped 3.6% in the third quarter - the worst performance of any
G10 currency against the dollar - as prices for Australia"s top
export, iron ore, fell sharply. The New Zealand dollar
slipped 0.2% to $0.6882.
Central banks in both countries meet next week, with the
Reserve Bank of New Zealand seen hiking while the Reserve Bank
of Australia is expected to stick with its forecast to keep
rates where they are until 2024.
Sterling was also an underperformer last quarter, dropping
2.5%, and looks set to log its worst week in more than a month,
weighed down by worries about a hawkish sounding central bank in
spite of growing supply chain problems.
Sterling eased 0.2% to trade just above a 9-month
low at $1.3452.
Still, some analysts think the dollar might soon lose some
momentum. A decline in global COVID-19 cases could see growth
rebound by year-end, said Bank of Singapore analyst Moh Siong
Sim.
Markets in Hong Kong and China are closed on Friday. Later
in the day, traders are awaiting U.S. personal spending and core
consumption deflator data and nervously watching for any
progress on the debate over raising the U.S. debt ceiling.
A deadline for authorising extra Treasury borrowing looms in
mid-October.
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Currency bid prices at 0624 GMT
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar $1.1580 $1.1578 +0.03% -5.21% +1.1583 +1.1564
Dollar/Yen 111.1350 111.3550 -0.11% +7.69% +111.4800 +111.1650
Euro/Yen
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