Today, the dollar maintained an upward trend against a basket of peer currencies as traders studied the possibilities that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) would soon begin lowering interest rates.
According to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, investors are betting on a 69 percent chance of a cut occurring during the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in March, followed by a 63.3 percent chance of another cut in May.
Federal Reserve Bank President Rafael Bostic said in Atlanta yesterday that he expects to cut interest rates twice in the second half of next year, but added that there is no “urgency” now.
Thomas Barkin, President of the Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond, also said yesterday that the performance of the economy will determine whether the central bank is able to achieve expectations of lowering interest rates.
The dollar index rose 0.13 percent to 102.25 after falling by more than 0.3 percent yesterday, and had touched the lowest level in four months at 101.76 last week.
The euro fell 0.19 percent to $1.0958, while the British pound reached $1.2715 in the latest trading.
The yen consolidated at 143.73 against the dollar after falling to 144.95 the previous day.
The Chinese yuan declined in foreign transactions against the US dollar to $7.1359.
The Australian dollar was mostly flat at $0.6766, slightly below its new five-month high of $0.6777.
The New Zealand dollar recorded $0.6276 in recent transactions, after touching its highest levels since July 20 at $0.6282 earlier in the session.
Regarding cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin rose 1.6 percent to $42,922.00.
2023-12-20 08:33:44
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