Dollar Dipping As Investors Turn Cautious

The dollar is logging modest decreases against its major rivals Monday afternoon. A lack of U.S. economic data is keeping some investors on the sidelines at the start of the new trading week. After the tumult of that has been experienced thus far in 2016, traders also appear to be exercising some caution.

The last few weeks have been rough for investors, as concerns over the Chinese economy and falling crude oil prices have hit global equity markets hard. Last week was the first time most global equity markets were able to log an increase since the new year began, after crude oil prices staged a short-lived recovery at the end of the week and central banks hinted at further stimulus measures.

The Federal Reserve has largely been silent amidst all the upheaval in the investing community, but that is about to change. The Fed will conclude its begin its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday and will release a statement upon its conclusion Wednesday afternoon.

The Fed broke ranks with the rest of the large central banks when it announced its first interest rate hike in nearly a decade back in December. The Fed telegraphed that it would be patient with future rate hikes. However, the prevailing opinion among investors was that the Fed would likely increase rates once a quarter in 2016. After the tumult of the last few weeks of trade, investors are left wondering if the Fed will announce a delay of future rate increases, or even if the Fed will consider easing instead.

Traders can look forward to the release of the S&P Case-Shiller HPI and consumer confidence data on Tuesday and new home sales Wednesday morning. Things will really pickup on the data front at the end of the week. Durable goods orders, weekly jobless claims and pending home sales are slated for Thursday. Readings on GDP, international trade, consumer sentiment and the Chicago PMI are also scheduled for Friday.

The dollar has eased to around $1.0835 against the Euro Monday afternoon, from around $1.0810 this morning.

German business confidence eased sharply at the start of the year to its weakest level in eleven months, as global concerns such as market volatility and slowdown in the emerging economies hurt expectations significantly.

The Ifo business climate index dropped to 107.3 from 108.6 in December, which was revised from 108.7, the Munich-based Ifo Institute said Monday. Economists had forecast a 108.4 score.

The total value of construction orders received by the German construction sector grew notably in November, figures from Destatis showed Monday.

Orders in the construction industry rose sharply by a seasonally, working-day and price-adjusted 15.0 percent month-on-month in November. This was the highest growth rate in November since the beginning of the time series in 1991, the agency said.

The buck is nearly unchanged against the Pound sterling Monday, hovering around $1.4250.

British manufacturers reported a decline in orders at the start of the year on weaker demand for exports, the Industrial Trends Survey of the Confederation of British Industry showed Monday. The order book balance of the survey dropped to -15 percent in January from -7 percent in the previous month. Economists had forecast a -10 reading.

The greenback has dipped to around Y118.495 against the Japanese Yen Monday afternoon, from around Y118.850.

Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 140.277 billion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. That beat forecasts for a surplus of 117.0 billion yen following the 381.3 billion yen deficit in November.

The leading index for Japan, which measures the future economic activity, dropped more than initially estimated in November, final figures from the Cabinet Office showed Monday. The leading index was revised downward to 103.5 in November from the preliminary reading of 103.9. In October, the score was 104.2.

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