U.S. Dollar Ticks Higher Amid ISM Services Index, NonFarm Payroll Data Releases

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Dollar value ends roughly flat as investors parsed U.S. June month's services index numbers by the Institutes for Supply Management along with last week's nonfarm payrolls data. In addition, traders are awaiting to gather cues from June month's Federal Open Market Committee's Minutes of Meeting to be released this week.

The U.S. Dollar Index, DXY, which measures the Greenback against a basket of other major currencies was last seen trading at 100.88, up by 0.03 (or 0.03%) today.

On the economic front in the U.S., the S&P Global's Composite Purchasing Managers' Index increased to 51.90 in June from 51.50 in May, below the preliminary estimate of 52.20.

Data released by the Institutes for Supply Management revealed today that the Services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 54.00 in June, down from 54.50 in May, matching market expectations, indicating a robust expansion in the services activity.

While against the Euro, USD was trading at 1.144, down by 0.06% against the GBP, it was trading at 1.338, down by 0.34%.

Against the USD, the Japanese Yen was trading at 162.095, down by 0.48%.

In Japan, investors are cautiously watching for any market intervention by Japanese authorities as the Yen falls to multi-decade lows. Although the Bank of Japan is slowly normalizing its monetary policy, Japanese interest rates hover below those of other major central banks, providing limited support for the Japanese currency.

Against the USD, the Swiss Franc was trading at 0.805, down by 0.32%.

The Canadian Dollar was trading at 1.420, down by 0.01%.

Canada's S&P Global Services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 47.10 in June from 50.60 in May, signalling a contraction (i.e., a reading below 50.00) in the services sector.

Against one unit of Australian Dollar, USD was trading at 0.696, down by 0.32%.

Oil prices edged down today due to steady rise in shipping traffic across the Strait of Hormuz. There is still an underlying tension due to the prevailing uncertainty over a final U.S.-Iran deal.

Over this weekend Al Jazeera quoted Iran's Ambassador to China Abdolreza Rahmani Fazil as stating that since the Strait of Hormuz is a part of Iran's territorial waters, Iran intends to charge a fee in some form though not necessarily as a toll.

On Sunday, concerns of renewed escalation surfaced again after U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran to negotiate and settle a deal with the U.S. soon or face military attacks.

As of now, the fall in crude oil prices since June 17 signing of U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding has lowered oil-linked inflationary pressures on the economy taking away the upside support for the U.S. dollar.

The first set of FOMC minutes released under the leadership of new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh to come up this week is anticipated by traders.

According to analysts, the core message is supposed to be tilted towards a more hawkish stance.

Currently, investors are betting on a 25.10% chance of a quarter-basis-point interest rate-hike in the upcoming meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve on July 28-29 while the bets on rates being held at the current level stand at 74.90%, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.