Dollar Slides As Yen Hits 15-Month Highs

Investor concerns reared their heads once again on Wednesday in advance of U.S. inflation reports that will either contain the panic or fan the flames later today. Headline consumer price inflation is expected to slow to an annual rate of 1.9 percent and core inflation is expected to decline to 1.7 percent. Should these forecasts materialize, investors may be calmed enough to move the markets higher.

The dollar fell to a 15-month low against the yen, trading at 107.16 as of 2:12 p.m. HK/SIN after hitting a low of 106.82 earlier in the session. The greenback’s slide against the yen sent the currency lower against its other trading partners. The dollar was lower against the euro, trading at $1.2377, as traders had optimistic expectations for German GDP data which will be released later today. The dollar was 0.17 percent lower against the Canadian dollar, to $1.2565. The dollar index was down 0.26 percent to 89.50 .DXY.

Commodity Movements

The lower dollar gave a boost to commodity prices on Wednesday. Brent crude futures were up 8 cents per barrel to $62.80, though U.S. WTI futures were mostly flat, trading down 0.01 percent to $59.18 per barrel. Despite the potential for increased demand due to the low dollar, oil traders remain concerned about the threat of oversupply which can sink prices further at any time. For this reason, crude prices remain well below recent highs. Earlier this month Brent was trading above $70 per barrel and U.S. WTI futures were above $65 per barrel.

Gold was up 0.51 percent to $1,337.20 per ounce and silver and platinum were also up 0.50 percent each.