PIG TODAY-Dollar touches 6-week high vs. yen

The dollar touched a 6-week high against the yen on Wednesday after a key advisory group pushed back against Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s claim that issuing ultralong-term debt could make sense.

“The committee doesn’t see evidence of strong or sustainable demand for maturities beyond 30-years,” the Treasury Advisory Committee said in a statement. Treasury yields, which move inversely to prices, initially ticked higher, but have since pared their rise.

The committee comprises representatives from financial institutions that help sell U.S. debt. It issues a statement every quarter before the Treasury unveils its latest issuance schedule.

Data released Wednesday suggested that private-sector employment slowed in April, with companies creating 177,000 jobs, according to a report from payrolls processor ADP.

However, “because [the data] missed so badly last month, people didn’t pay much attention to the ADP report this month,” said Marc Chandler, chief global currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. “So you have to assume [this morning’s move] had something to do with the bond market.”

Against the yen, the dollar USDJPY, +0.31% advanced to ¥112.36, its highest level since March 21. It had traded at ¥111.99 late Tuesday in New York.

The ICE Dollar Index DXY, +0.14% which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six rivals, was up 0.1% at 99.095. The WSJ Dollar Index BUXX, +0.22%which measure’s the buck’s strength against a wider basket, rose 0.2% to 89.82.

TimeJapanese Yen2 Jan16 Jan30 Jan13 Feb27 Feb13 Mar27 Mar10 Apr24 Apr

Investors now turn their attention to the Fed, which is expected to release its latest interest-rate decision and policy statement at 2 p.m. Most Wall Street strategists expect the bank to wait at least until its June meeting to raise rates for what would be the fourth time since the financial crisis.

The U.S. economy grew at its most sluggish pace in three years during the first quarter, increasing the likelihood that Fed officials would like to see data improve before it begins prepping the market for a rate-hike in June.

Officials at the central bank are particularly eager to see the April employment report, as well as reports on retail sales and consumer-price inflation, given the weakness in the March data, said Michelle Meyer and Mark Cabana at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in a research note released Tuesday.

Markit’s services report for April is expected at 9:45 a.m. Eastern, followed at 10 a.m. by an April reading for ISM’s nonmanufacturing index.

The Labor Department’s jobs report, one of the most widely watched economic indicators, is due Friday. Investors are hoping to see jobs growth expanded at a strong rate in April after falling sharply in March.

In other trading, one euro EURUSD, -0.1647% bought $1.0917, down from $1.0932 late Tuesday.

The pound GBPUSD, -0.1391%  traded at $1.2924, slipping from $1.2939 late Tuesday.  Source:marketwatch.com