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Bloomberg Business: Dollar Extends Jump on Rate Outlook; Asia Stocks Pace U.S. Gains

Copyright 2015 Bloomberg.
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(Bloomberg) — The dollar extended gains, reaching a three- month high versus the yen, amid mounting speculation U.S. interest rate increases will be brought forward. Asian stocks followed U.S. shares higher, and copper futures climbed. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback versus 10 major peers, rose 0.2 percent by 9:23 a.m. in Tokyo, climbing for a fifth day as the yen slipped to its weakest level since Dec. 8. Currencies from New Zealand to Malaysia retreated. More than twice as many stocks rose as fell on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, as equity measures from Japan to Australia climbed. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed. Copper advanced 0.2 percent before Chinese data. The Bloomberg dollar gauge is at a decade high after better-than-expected U.S. jobs data Friday saw traders bolster bets on a September rate rise. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said delaying higher borrowing costs risked pushing the U.S. into recession. China reports on consumer and producer prices Tuesday, the first in a slew of data this week that will give investors more clues as to how the slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy is panning out. “The China data will provide us with an update with what’s happening as people just want to see that there’s some traction in the economy at this stage,” Tony Farnham, an analyst in Sydney at Patersons Securities Ltd., said by phone. “The authorities are mindful of the slowdown in demand and will continue to address that.” The S&P 500 slid 1.6 percent last week, the most since January, as data showed the U.S. jobless rate had fallen within a range for what the central bank considers full employment. The odds of a U.S. rate increase by September have jumped to 59 percent, from 49 percent on Thursday, futures showed. Federal Reserve policy makers next meet March 17-18. “Every time the Fed has tightened policy after achieving full employment, it has driven the economy into recession,” Fisher said at Rice University in Houston Monday. Unemployment is “likely to reach the bottom of the range of natural-rate estimates” by the summer of 2015, he said.

–With assistance from Kevin Buckland in Tokyo.

To contact the reporters on this story: Emma O’Brien in Wellington at eobrien6@bloomberg.net; Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Emma O’Brien at eobrien6@bloomberg.net John McCluskey

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Men of Value Contributor

Men of Value Contributor

Articles by various contributors to Men of Value, an online magazine for American men who value our Judeo-Christian values of faith, family, and freedom.

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