Dollar a spectator to China news, yen ponders rate risks
dollar held steady on the yuan on Tuesday as markets digested a welter of policy statements out of China, while a rebound in Tokyo inflation seemed to take Japan a step closer to the end of negative interest rates.
There was more action in bitcoin, which gained 1.2% to $68,341 after surging more than 7% on Monday. The blockchain asset has benefited from flows into cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, most notably in the United States.
Early news out of China's National People's Congress (NPC) contained few surprised with Beijing sticking with an economic growth target of 5% and a budget deficit of 3%.
Analysts say meeting the target will be a challenge as a protracted property crisis, low consumption, slow global growth and geopolitical tensions drag on activity.
The yuan was little changed at 7.1987, as markets hoped more concrete stimulus measures would emerge.
The Japanese yen held steady after data showed Tokyo core inflation sped up to 2.5% in February, from 1.8% the previous month. The measure excluding food and energy did slow to 3.1%, but stayed above the Bank of Japan's 2% target.
«Inflation jumped to well above 2% and will remain around that level for a few months,» by Marcel Thieliant, head of Asia-Pacific at Capital Economics. «Accordingly, we're sticking to our forecast that the Bank of Japan will hike interest rates into positive territory next month.»
Many analysts expect rates to rise to zero in April after Japan's wage round ends.
The dollar was a fraction lower at 150.44 yen, having again
