U.S. Dollar Higher Ahead Of Fed Announcement

The U.S. dollar gained ground against its major counterparts on Wednesday, ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement, which is widely expected to unveil a rate hike for the second time this year.

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark rate by 25 basis points when it ends a two-day policy meeting later in the day.

With the hike, the federal funds rate is expected to be in a range of 1.75 percent to 2 percent.

The language in the policy statement along with an updated set of economic forecasts from Fed officials, covering GDP, inflation and unemployment may shed light on how many additional rate hikes might come out of the U.S. this year.

Apart from the Fed decision, U.S. producer price index for May will be released at 8:30 am ET. The producer price index is forecast to rise 0.3 percent on month in May, up from the previous month's 0.1 percent rate.

On Thursday, the European Central Bank may signal that it is getting closer to winding down its QE program.

The Bank of Japan is expected to make no changes to its monetary policy settings when it ends a two-day review on Friday.

The greenback advanced to a 3-week high of 110.69 against the yen and held steady thereafter. At yesterday's close, the pair was worth 110.36.

The greenback climbed to 5-day highs of 1.1730 against the euro and 1.3037 versus the loonie, from its early lows of 1.1753 and 1.3011, respectively. On the upside, 1.16 and 1.32 are possibly seen as the next resistance levels for the greenback against the euro and the loonie, respectively.

Reversing from its early lows of 1.3375 against the pound and 0.9866 against the franc, the greenback advanced to 1.3353 and 0.9882, respectively. If the greenback rises further, it may find resistance around 1.32 against the pound and 1.01 against the franc.

Looking ahead, U.K. house price index for April, CPI and PPI for May and Eurozone industrial production for April and employment for the first quarter are due in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. PPI for May is scheduled for release.

At 2:00 pm ET, the Fed announces its decision on interest rates. The Fed is widely expected to raise the federal funds rate by a quarter point to a range of 1.75 percent to 2 percent.

US Dollar vs Yen (FX:USDJPY)
Graphique Historique de la Devise
De Mar 2024 à Avr 2024