As the Federal Reserve (Fed)’s December interest rate meeting minutes did not release new information on the pace of interest rate hikes in February,dollar indexIt fell back on Wednesday (4th).Australian dollarIt rose to a three-week high on news that China plans to ease import restrictions on Australian coal.
ICE, which tracks the dollar against six major currencies, in late U.S. trade dollar index (DXY) fell 0.26 percent to 104.25.
The minutes of the Fed meeting showed that officials generally believed that until the 2% inflation target was achieved, a restrictive policy stance would need to be maintained. All Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members expected no interest rate cuts this year and warned investors against excessive Read the move to slow the pace of rate hikes.
Brian Daingerfield, director of G10 foreign exchange strategy at NatWest Markets, believes that the minutes of the meeting released this time did not provide important new information. The Fed’s hawkish outlook is reflected in their adjustments to this year’s end-of-year interest rate forecasts, which have been reflected in last month’s press conference , economic forecasts and central bank statements.
The minutes of the December meeting did not change investors’ expectations for the Fed to raise interest rates at the next meeting. Fed funds futures traders see a 67 percent chance the Fed will slow the pace of rate hikes to 1 yard in February.
“There’s no clear indication of the Fed’s preference for a further slowdown or a December rate hike, and I think that’s why we haven’t seen a big market reaction,” Daingerfield said.
While the Fed works to calm price pressures, a solid job market continues to provide room for the Fed to raise interest rates.
Economic data pointed out that although the number of JOLTs job vacancies in the United States fell to 10.458 million in November, it was still higher than market expectations, showing that the labor market is still tight. The non-agricultural employment in December, which will be announced on Friday (6th), will be the focus of attention. The market expects an increase of 200,000 people, while the average hourly salary in December is estimated to increase by 0.4% per month and 5% per year.
Optimism over the prospect of further fiscal stimulus as China is about to open its borders lifted risk sentiment and dampened demand for the dollar.
at the same time,Australian dollarIt jumped 1.7 percent to $0.6840, its highest since Dec. 15. It is reported that China’s National Development and Reform Commission is discussing to allow four state-owned enterprises to import coal from Australia again. If the news is true, this will be the first time that China has eased restrictions on Australian coal since it imposed a ban on Australian coal in 2020.
EURIt rose nearly 0.6 percent to $1.0606. France announced earlier that December consumer price index (CPI) fell more than expected, and signs of peaking inflation helped ease concerns about the European Central Bank (ECB) taking a tough policy stance.
In terms of other major currencies,GBPIt was up about 0.8 percent at $1.2055, recovering losses from the previous day.JPYAgainst the dollar fell 1.3% to 132.67 JPYAgainst 1 dollar.
As of about 6:00 Taiwan time on Thursday (5th) Price:
- dollar indexCall 104.2682. -0.3866%
- EURExchange rate against US dollar (EUR/USD) 1 EURAgainst $1.0602. +0.5119%
- GBPExchange rate against USD (GBP/USD) 1 GBPAgainst $1.2056. +0.7354%
- Australian dollarExchange rate against U.S. dollar (AUD/USD) 1 Australian dollarAgainst $0.6838. +1.6501%
- US dollar againstCanadian Dollars (USD/CAD) exchange rate quoted 1 US dollar to 1.3477 Canadian Dollars。-1.4046%
- US dollar againstJPY (USD/JPY) exchange rate quoted 1 US dollar to 132.65 JPY。+1.2750%