US Dollar Advances Before Fed Decision, But USD/GBP Falls

Published: 18 Dec at 5 PM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, USA, Germany,

The Federal Open Market Committee’s long awaited policy announcement is just hours away, and after fluctuating during the European session the US Dollar strengthened against the Yen as speculation surrounding the odds of a reduction in stimulus reached new heights.

The ‘Buck’ also rallied against the Euro in spite of an increase in German business confidence.

As one Washington-based industry expert noted; ‘Investors are playing it cautious and flattening out some of the negative bets on the Dollar’.

A smaller than forecast dip in US building permits also lent the US Dollar support.

However, the North American currency retained declines against the Pound as the British asset turned bullish following the release of better-than-forecast UK employment data.

The US Dollar is currently trading against the Pound in the region of 0.6099

The UK unemployment rate fell from 7.6 to 7.4 in the three months to October, an over four year low.

As the Bank of England intimated that interest rates will be increased once the unemployment rate hits 7 per cent this result upped the likelihood of the central bank being among the first to rein in stimulus.

In other currency news, reviving Norwegian exports prompted one major local bank to assert that the Krone’s decline has been excessive.

During a recent interview the head of DNB Markets stressed that the Krone is weaker than it has any reason to be.

This remark follows the cautious comments issued by Prime Minister Erna Solberg yesterday.

Solberg stated that the Krone is likely to experience fluctuations in the near future and that exporters should brace themselves for the currency’s return to strength.

The Krone slipped against the Euro today as the common currency was lifted by the German IFO figures.

The Krone is currently trading against the Euro in the region of 8.3947

The FOMC decision will be announced at 19:30 GMT and is likely to trigger widespread volatility.
As of Wednesday, 18th December 2013, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.1976, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.6384,

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