The US dollar is depreciating against the euro, pound sterling and yen after a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve System (FRS).
As reported, the US Central Bank raised its base interest rate by 75 basis points (bp) for the second meeting in a row, to 2.25-2.5%, and signaled that it intends to continue tightening monetary policy.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said during a press conference after the meeting that the central bank is ready to accelerate the pace of rate hikes, if necessary, to curb inflation. At the same time, he noted that at some point the Fed will have to slow down the pace of rate hikes, as the US economy is weakening.
Powell also declined to predict what the rate hike could be at the next meeting, noting that the Fed would make decisions “from meeting to meeting.”
Market participants considered Powell’s statements less “hawkish” than expected, seeing in them a hint that the Fed will raise rates more slowly going forward, Dow Jones notes.
The dollar fell 0.8% against the euro on Wednesday, more than 1% against the pound and 0.25% against the yen.
As of 09:20 Moscow time on Thursday, the euro/dollar pair is trading at $1.0218 compared to $1.0198 at the close of the previous session. The pound rose to $1.2171 from $1.2156 the day before.
The cost of the US currency against the yen is 135.37 yen against 136.6 yen on Wednesday.
The ICE-calculated index, which shows the dynamics of the dollar against six currencies (the euro, the Swiss franc, the yen, the Canadian dollar, the pound sterling and the Swedish krona), is losing 0.32%, the broader WSJ Dollar Index – 0.31%.
