Euro zone business activity contracts again in October
Robust US data, hawkish Fed comments have supported dollar
Yen gets respite as Japan finmin warns against rapid moves
US and Japanese elections cloud outlook for dollaryen
TOKYOLONDON, Oct 24 Reuters The U.S. dollar stalled near a threemonth high against other major currencies on Thursday, underpinned by expectations for a slower pace of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, while the euro and Japanese yen climbed off recent lows.
The euro edged up 0.2 to 1.0799, a day after slumping to a nearly fourmonth trough of 1.07612. A survey showed euro zone business activity stalled again last month, but the contraction in Germany, Europe39;s largest economy, was less steep than the previous month.
On Wednesday, ECB President Christine Lagarde sounded measured, saying policymakers needed to be cautious in deciding policy, although colleague Mario Centeno suggested rates could be cut by 50 basis points at the central bank39;s next meeting on Dec. 12.
The risk is to the downside into the U.S. election as we could keep positioning for Trump reflation and that means higher U.S. yields relative to German yields, Broux said on the euro outlook.
There39;s no real reason to expect that to converge anytime soon and that should keep eurodollar weak in the nearterm and the dollar just remains strong overall.
The dollar index , which measures the currency against six others including the euro and yen, stood at 104.18,…