2024-01-17 01:43:24
The dollar index hovered at its highest level in a month once morest a basket of currencies, on Wednesday, as statements by Christopher Waller, a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (the US central bank), weakened expectations of cutting interest rates in March.
Waller said on Tuesday that although the United States is “close to” the central bank’s two percent inflation target, the bank should not rush to cut the benchmark interest rate until it becomes clear that low inflation will continue.
Market expectations for an interest rate cut in March fell to a chance of 62.2 percent, compared to 76.9 percent in the previous session, according to the CME Fed Watch tool.
The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency once morest a basket of major currencies, reached 103.35 points following rising to 103.42 points during the previous session, which is its highest level since December 13.
Tuesday also witnessed the largest percentage increase in the dollar in one day since January 2.
Meanwhile, the euro hovered near a one-month low of $1.0875 following its biggest one-day drop in two weeks, following comments from several European Central Bank policymakers this week that kept uncertainty over the timing of interest rate cuts.
The pound sterling was last trading largely unchanged at $1.2636, following a sharp decline on Tuesday, following data showing British wage growth slowed in the three months to November.
The Japanese yen came under some pressure once more. It reached its lowest level since early December at 147.45 per dollar in light of the support the US currency received from the rise in US bond yields.
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