Dollar Set for Monthly Losses Against Most Peers as Fed Meets

The dollar headed for monthly losses against most major peers before U.S. data forecast to show consumer confidence fell to a five-month low and retail sales stalled as the Federal Reserve starts a two-day meeting today.

The greenback traded near an almost two-year low against the euro with a report due today that may show stronger consumer sentiment in France, Europe’s second-largest economy. The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index dropped for a second month amid bets the partial government shutdown adds to the case for the Fed to delay paring stimulus. The Aussie dollar fell after Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said the currency will probably be “materially lower.”

The dollar was little changed at $1.3783 per euro as of 10:01 a.m. in Tokyo from yesterday, poised for a 1.9 percent drop this month. It touched $1.3832 on Oct. 25, the weakest since November 2011. The U.S. currency slid 0.2 percent to 97.52 yen, set for a 0.8 percent monthly decline.

The 17-nation euro weakened 0.2 percent to 134.39 yen from yesterday. For the month, it’s up 1.1 percent against the Japanese currency. Australia’s dollar declined 0.5 percent to 95.23 U.S. cents, after earlier dropping to 95.15, the lowest since Oct. 16.

The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major currencies, was at 1,002.57 from 1,002.27 yesterday. The gauge is down 0.9 percent this month.

(Source: Bloomberg)