Warsh's Speech Takes Center Stage as Dollar Index Holds Steady

The US dollar was largely unchanged on Thursday after a batch of economic data came out. Instead of reacting strongly to the news, investors are now focused on what Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh will say at the Jackson Hole symposium.

Warsh's speech is highly anticipated as it may provide clues about how policymakers plan to handle rising Treasury yields. The Treasury Department recently announced that it would double the size of quarterly repurchases of longer-dated bonds, sparking concerns that this could lead to a debasement of the dollar.

Economists and market participants are bracing themselves for Warsh's speech, expecting him to be cautious in his comments on monetary policy. As one analyst noted, 'Warsh is saying the Fed needs to speak less so that the price signals from the bond market are cleaner, and then Bessent wants to distort those signals by intervening, it makes no sense.'

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, edged up 0.02 per cent to 99.14, with the euro up 0.01 per cent at $1.165.