The calendar looks light over the next five days, with only weekly jobless claims data and flash PMIs for August on the docket, so Fed speakers could get more attention.
In comments over the weekend, U.S. policymakers Mary Daly and Austan Goolsbee both left the door open for easing as soon as September.
Daly told the Financial Times that it was time to consider adjusting borrowing costs from the current 5.25%-5.5% range that rates have been held at for a year, saying it was important to prevent the labor market from tipping into a downturn.
That’s helped push the dollar lower across the board.
The dollar index, which measures the currency against six others, was last down 0.3%, hitting its lowest level since Jan. 5. Against the yen, it was down around 1%.
In a possible indication that the unwinding of yen-funded carry trades could be further along than previously thought, speculators have done some hefty repositioning in the currency in the last few weeks.
The latest weekly data from the U.S. CFTC showed speculators have now turned net long for the first time since 2021, having been almost record short the yen just five weeks ago.
The Bank of Japan’s July rate hike and soft U.S. jobs and inflation data have completely flipped the script for Japan’s currency, which hit its weakest level in 38 years last month.
