USD drops hours before interest rate decision

The dollar fell from a three-week high on Wednesday, with profit-taking by traders ahead of the Fed’s first interest rate hike in 2018. Currently, the markets believe three interest rate increases are likely to occur this year.

The US dollar fell 0.2% against a basket of major rivals, after previously hitting a three-week high on Tuesday. The weakening of the greenback led the EUR and JPY to recover some of the losses suffered on Tuesday.

The dollar is still stuck in a range of trading as investors wait to see if the Federal Reserve will expect four interest rate increases this year. After the final declaration of the Reserve Council, Jerome Powell will hold his first press conference as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Many analysts question the ability of the dollar to rise, especially with the downward trend taken by investors. It should be noted that the dollar was sold in January and February by betting that the trade balance and budget deficit will lead to a decline. The US Treasury Secretary’s comments that the dollar’s weakness was good for the US also affected the currency. US Treasury yields jumped for two years to 2.3449% on Tuesday.

As the US currency fell, the euro, driven by dollar-linked news in recent weeks, rose 0.3% to hit $1.2275 per euro after falling 0.78% on Tuesday and hitting a three-week low of $1.2240. However, according to analysts, the expectations of the Reserve Council to raise interest rates for four times this year may eventually lead to the rise of the dollar against the euro. The dollar also fell against the Japanese yen by 0.2% to hit 106.345 yen per dollar, after the gains made by the Japanese yen on Tuesday by 0.4%, although trading was slow because of public holiday in Tokyo.

The Canadian dollar also rose 0.5% against the US dollar, with the pair reaching the price of 1.3003 Canadian dollars, its highest level since March 15. The Australian dollar fell to a three-month low of $0.7679 on Tuesday, but recovered some of its strength on Wednesday to trade marginally at A $0.7686. The pound rose 0.5% against the dollar, reaching 1.4065, after data showed that wages in the UK grew at their fastest pace in more than two years, supporting bets that the Bank of England will raise interest rates early in May.

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