Dollar up

AFP, TOKYO: The dollar advanced against the yen and euro yesterday but edged broadly lower against other Asian currencies as dealers await a speech by Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen.
Yellen’s talk in New York later in the day comes after the bank earlier this month lowered its forecasts for lifting borrowing costs this year citing concerns about the impact on the US economy of market turmoil in January and February.
Her comments will be pored over to see if she sheds any light on Fed interest rate policy thinking, after the US central bank in December lifted key interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.
A recent run of strong US data—including Friday’s better-than-expected fourth-quarter GDP growth—have raised chances of a fresh increase sometime soon, although analysts said disappointing inflation and consumer spending figures Monday dampened expec-tations.

Dollar up

AFP, TOKYO: The dollar advanced against the yen and euro yesterday but edged broadly lower against other Asian currencies as dealers await a speech by Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen. Yellens talk in New York later in the day comes after the bank earlier this month lowered its forecasts for lifting borrowing costs this year citing concerns about the impact on the US economy of market turmoil in January and February. Her comments will be pored over to see if she sheds any light on Fed interest rate policy thinking, after the US central bank in December lifted key interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. A recent run of strong US dataincluding Fridays better-than-expected fourth-quarter GDP growthhave raised chances of a fresh increase sometime soon, although analysts said disappointing inflation and consumer spending figures Monday dampened expec-tations.