Dollar Losses Ground Against Major Rivals

 
Snapshot: 

        -Dollar weaker; 10-year Treasury yield at 2.335%; Stocks futures dip; Nymex at $50.31; gold at $1094.29
        -Watch for: June existing home sales; monthly house prices; earnings from Boeing, Coca-Cola, Abbott Laboratories, Mullen Group, American Express, Discover Financial, Qualcomm
        News: States, Cities to Ask SEC to Beef Up Disclosures for Private-Equity Firms; Greek Government Debt Falls Sharply; S&P Upgrades Greece
        The dollar mostly lost ground against its major rivals in Asia, with the buck eyeing a second down day in a row and slumping in particular versus the pound.
        Currency strategists had blamed the prior session's drop in part on short-term investors selling the strengthening dollar to lock in profits.
        The ICE U.S. dollar index , which tracks the greenback's performance against six rival currencies, was last down less than 0.1% to 97.314 after sliding 0.7% on Tuesday. It still has a solid year-to-date gain, up 7.8%.
        The dollar index "has been knocked back down toward 97.40 after running into resistance near 98.35 but remains in an uptrend, with initial support possible near 97.00," said Colin Cieszynski at CMC Markets.
        In European currency markets, the euro extended gains against the U.S. dollar and was recently 0.2% higher at $1.096. BNP Paribas strategists said that some investors were selling the dollar to take advantage of a rally in recent weeks.
        Considering the likelihood of a U.S. interest rate rise, though, they said they still expect the dollar to climb against the euro in the long term.
        The minutes from the Bank of England's latest rate-setting meeting have sparked some volatility in the pound, but with little overall direction to trade.
        Sterling, which was already higher ahead of the minutes, has eased back slightly after zigzagging after the minutes were published. Although a unanimous vote in favor of keeping rates on hold may have disappointed some sterling bulls, the minutes also showed that some officials were leaning towards a rate rise but were held back by the crisis in Greece, which has since appeared to ease. At 4.44am ET, the pound was 0.4% higher on the day against the dollar at $1.5609, roughly where it was ahead of the minutes.
        U.S. Treasurys trade little changed as core bonds retain their safety status after IBM's, United Technologies' and Apple's disappointing earnings pushed U.S. equity markets lower. At 5.10am ET, the 10-year UST was quoted at 2.335% and the September Treasury contract was flat at 126-065.
        Stocks face further losses at the open following Tuesday's selloff, with another heavy slate of earnings likely to dictate direction.
        Among shares expected to see active trade are Coca-Cola, Boeing, and Qualcomm. Strategists said trading volume is subdued this week, but it could pick up when the latest housing data is released at 10am ET ahead of Friday's new home sales report.
        Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 51.25 points, or 1.10%, futures for the Dow slipped 78 points, or 0.44%, while those for the S&P 500 index fell 8.25 points, or 0.39%.
        Apple is likely to remain in the spotlight after the iPhone maker issued a disappointing outlook for the current quarter. After the market close, Apple reported earnings that showed sales of its iPhone had missed some analysts' estimates. In after-hours trading, Apple's shares fell 7%, erasing about $60 billion in market value.
        "As goes Apple, as goes the U.S. stock market. So, unless we see something spectacular from European markets Wednesday, we should see a modestly risk-off session in the U.S.," said Chris Weston at IG.
        "The earnings announcement from Apple reinforced concerns about dollar strength with a 21% decline in China sales, while European sales also disappointed, while the company warned it faced a "difficult foreign exchange environment", as it downgraded its Q4 guidance," Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.
        European stocks fell in early trade, tracking those losses in the U.S.
        Crude-oil futures declined in Asia trade after initial data showed a surprise increase in U.S. oil inventories last week, though this is yet to be confirmed by the energy department's numbers today.
        Brent crude fell 1% in early trade to $56.48 a barrel. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September were 1.08% lower at $50.31 per barrel.
        Spot gold price were lower in Europe, trading down 0.6% at $1,094.29/oz, at 02.35am ET. Gold is $20 away from a new five-and-a-half-year low and price risks for the yellow metal remain to the downside.
        "The market has not taken the opportunity to cover short positions or indeed used the decline in prices as a buying opportunity," said Victor Thianpiriya at ANZ Research.
        States, Cities to Ask SEC to Beef Up Disclosures for Private-Equity Firms
        A group of states and cities said it intends to send a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission late Tuesday asking for greater transparency and more frequent disclosures by private-equity funds.
        Greek Government Debt Falls Sharply
        Greece's government debt fell sharply in the first three months of the year, while remaining by far the highest in the eurozone, according to figures from the European Union's statistics agency.
        S&P Upgrades Greece
        Standard & Poor's lifted Greece's credit rating by two notches, although it remains in junk territory, citing last week's bailout deal. S&P estimated the possibility of Greece leaving the eurozone has fallen to below 50%.
        FCC set to approve $49 billion AT&T-DirecTV merger
        Federal regulators are poised to approve AT&T Inc.'s $49 billion acquisition of DirecTV, according to people familiar with the matter, ending a review process that lasted over a year and clearing the way for the biggest media deal of the past year.
        BOE Minutes Show Rate Rise Debate Intensifying
        Bank of England officials voted unanimously in July to keep the central bank's benchmark interest rate steady, but their united front masks an increasingly lively debate over when to start raising borrowing costs.
        Sanctions to Lift on Iranians Suspected of Weapons Work
        The U.S. and EU agreed in last week's deal to lift sanctions over eight years on a network of Iranian scientists, military officers and companies long suspected as central players in a covert nuclear weapons program.
        U.S. Charges Five in Cases Connected to J.P. Morgan Hack
        U.S. authorities charged five individuals Tuesday in cases connected to a cyberattack on J.P. Morgan Chase last year, bringing criminal counts ranging from securities fraud to money laundering, according to people familiar with the matter.
        Write to Sarka Halas at sarka.halas@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 22, 2015 06:17 ET (10:17 GMT)

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