Traders also awaited policy decisions from the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of Japan (BoJ) this week. FOCUS ON CENTRAL BANKSElsewhere, the ECB sets policy on Thursday. Again, a quarter point hike is widely expected, but building evidence of an economic slowdown has called into question the chances of another by year-end. The Australian dollar slid 0.4% to $0.6766 after slower-than-expected inflation data suggested the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would forgo a rate hike on Aug. 1. Money markets are split between a 25 basis point (bp) or a 50 bp rate hike.

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Persons: Jerome, Powell, Joseph Capurso, Capurso, Sean Callow, Sterling, Kevin Buckland, Joice Alves, Mark Potter Organizations: Federal, Traders, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, U.S, Money, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, FOCUS, ECB, Australian, Reserve Bank of Australia, Westpac, U.S ., Bank of, Thomson Locations: LONDON, U.S, Beijing, China, Bank of England, Tokio, London