US Dollar Under Pressure; Markets Doubt September Rate Hike
The US dollar weakened during Wednesday's trading (July 29) after the Federal Reserve maintained interest rates in the 3.50%–3.75% range. The decision was reached via a 9-to-3 vote.
Beth Hammack, Neel Kashkari, and Lorie Logan supported a 25-basis-point rate hike. Despite these three hawkish votes, markets have begun to question whether support for a rate hike in September will be strong enough.
The US Dollar Index fell approximately 0.5% to the 100.90 level. US Treasury yields also declined, triggering a broad sell-off of the dollar.
The EUR/USD pair rose about 0.7% to 1.1470, its highest level in over a week. Markets are now awaiting data on economic growth, German inflation, economic sentiment, and Eurozone unemployment.
GBP/USD strengthened by around 0.5% to 1.3360 ahead of the Bank of England's decision. Meanwhile, USD/JPY fell to around 163.50, though it remains near multi-decade highs.
AUD/USD remained weak at around 0.6945 as Australian inflation came in lower than expected. Consequently, dollar weakness could support gold and major currencies, though future direction remains dependent on inflation data and signals regarding central bank policy. (arl)
Source: Newsmaker.id
