Asian currencies strengthen as Fed's disinflation woes weaken dollar

Most emerging Asian currencies traded higher on 19 March as the previous day's Fed policy review showed that lower US inflation could likely delay the next rate move by the Fed, weakening the greenback broadly.

As expected, the FOMC dropped the word "patience" from its policy statement but the policymakers added that they are not in hurry to raise rates with inflation at very low levels and the rest of the world not recovering with sufficient momentum.

The dollar fell against the euro, the pound and other major currencies on the Fed decision. However, the US currency soon found support as the market continued to expect the Fed to keep its rate path divergence towards the hawkish side from other major central banks.

"Information received since the FOMC met in January suggests that economic growth has moderated somewhat. Labour market conditions have improved further, with strong job gains and a lower unemployment rate," the Fed statement said.

As per the 26 February data, consumer prices in the US dropped 0.1% year-on-year in January, the lowest rate since late 2009. On a monthly basis, prices went down 0.7% due to falling gasoline cost.

The GBP/USD jumped to 1.5168 from 1.4749 on 18 March before ending the day at 1.4977. The pair was down early Thursday (19 March) and touched as low as 1.4886.

The EUR/USD had risen to 1.1041 from 1.0591 on the Fed statement but ended Wednesday's deals at 1.0862 and then eased further towards 1.0775 early Thursday in Asia.

The USD index dropped to 96.41 from 99.60 before ending at 97.84 and moved up towards 98.31 in Asia.

Asian currencies, however, looked at the dollar weakness compared to the levels when most of them closed Wednesday's deals, which was many hours ahead of the Fed review, and traded higher.

The USD/MYR dropped to 3.6510 from Wednesday's close of 3.7075, further distancing from the multi-year high of 3.7215 touched on 10 March.

The USD/INR fell to 62.1100 from 62.7150 before edging back higher to 62.43. The USD/IDR eased to 12,985 from 13,170, moving further away from the 13 March multi-year high of 13,289.