Dollar, euro steady after strong US bank results

The U.S. dollar and euro steadied on Thursday after strong U.S. banking results firmed up expectations that the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB) will keep raising interest rates.

Morgan Stanley reported first quarter profit on Wednesday that beat expectations, adding to rosy results from major U.S. lenders and calming fears of a widening crisis after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by rival UBS.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, eased 0.1% to 101.89 after sliding on Friday to its lowest level since early February.

The euro edged up 0.1% to $1.0964, not far from a one-year high touched last week against the dollar.

“The banking results continue to show that the U.S. bank funding situation is stabilising,” said Bank of Singapore currency strategist Sim Moh Siong. That has pushed away bets of interest rates cuts, he said.

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