Written by Harry Robertson
LONDON (Reuters) – The dollar edged higher on Thursday as investors awaited U.S. economic data later in the day, pushing Bitcoin to a record high above $73,800.
The dollar index against six major currencies rose 0.14% to 102.89.
It largely ignored Tuesday’s better-than-expected U.S. consumer inflation data, which has remained largely unchanged since. The index has gained about 1.5% since the beginning of the year as U.S. data shows the economy remains strong and investors refrain from betting on a quick and deep rate cut.
Statistics such as producer inflation, retail sales and weekly jobless claims to be released at 1230 GMT (8:30 a.m. ET) could provide further clues about the timing of the rate cut.
“In a quiet market environment, US indicators will be very important today,” said Francesco Pesole, foreign exchange strategist at ING. “That’s probably going to be the big thing today.”
He added: “This is really a midterm week and we just have to wait for next week’s central bank meeting to see what happens.”
The Bank of Japan will decide on interest rates next Tuesday, followed by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday and the Bank of England on Thursday.
The euro fell 0.1% to $1.0937 on Thursday in the absence of key European economic data, which added to volatility, bringing its decline this year to around 0.9%. The pound rose slightly to $1.2806, up 0.6% since the beginning of the year.
Bitcoin continues to rise, hitting an all-time high of $73,803. Exchange-traded Bitcoin funds and optimism that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year boosted the largest cryptocurrency.
The dollar was little changed at 147.9 yen, down 2% over the past two weeks, as investors bet the Bank of Japan could raise interest rates from negative territory at next week’s meeting.
Sources told Reuters that Japan’s central bank plans to discuss abolishing negative interest rates if wage negotiations at large companies yield a positive result.
Preliminary results of spring wage negotiations are expected to be announced on Friday, and some of the country’s biggest companies have already agreed to meet union demands for higher wages.
Elsewhere, the dollar rose 0.21% against the Swedish crown to 10.248 crowns after data showed Sweden’s headline inflation rate slowed more than expected in February.
Market prices on Thursday showed traders believed there was about a 75% chance the Fed would cut rates by June.
(Reporting by Harry Robertson; Additional reporting by Brigid Riley; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Elaine Hardcastle)