Fed Minutes Shake Things Up - USD Broadly Strengthens

Published: 22 Aug at 10 AM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, South Africa,

Pound Sterling
GBP/EUR – Trading in the Region of 1.1698
Ahead of tomorrow’s UK GDP report Sterling lost ground against the US Dollar and Euro as both assets were supported by home grown developments. The Pound could continue softening against these peers in the hours ahead if this afternoon’s US data meets expectations.

US Dollar
USD/EUR – Trading in the Region of 0.7502
Hopes that the Federal Reserve will begin tapering bond buying this year were ignited after the FOMC minutes showed that policy makers were largely backing the plan. Consequently, the US Dollar advanced on the majority of its peers during the local session.

Euro
EUR/USD – Trading in the Region of 1.3327
Significantly better than forecast manufacturing/services PMI for Germany and the Eurozone bolstered the Euro as local trade progressed. The common currency extended gains against the Pound and recouped recently sustained losses against the US Dollar.

Australian Dollar
AUD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.8990
The ‘Aussie’ was able to rebound from the lows hit in the immediate aftermath of the FOMC minutes release after stronger-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data improved the South Pacific nation’s trade prospects.

New Zealand Dollar
NZD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.7839
After posting widespread declines in reaction to yesterday’s US news, the ‘Kiwi’ was little impacted by data showing that China’s manufacturing sector grew for the first time in four months. The New Zealand Dollar continues to trade in the region of a two-week low against the neighbouring ‘Aussie’.

Canadian Dollar
CAD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.9540
With the markets well and truly shaken up by yesterday’s US developments, the Canadian Dollar was left trading close to a six-week low against the ‘Greenback’. The commodity driven asset was also adversely affected by the expectation that today’s domestic retail sales report will show a month-on-month decline of 0.4 per cent.

Japanese Yen
USD/JPY – Trading in the Region of 98.1900
Overnight the Yen softened beyond 98 per Dollar as investors reacted to the FOMC minutes. With it now looking increasingly likely that the Fed will begin tapering bond buying this year the Yen could weaken back to the 100 Yen per Dollar level in the months ahead.

South African Rand
USD/ZAR – Trading in the Region of 10.3550
As emerging market assets broadly weakened in response to the FOMC minutes the Rand hit a multi-week low against the US Dollar before recovering some ground following the release of Chinese manufacturing data. However, if today’s US data meets expectations the Rand could extend losses against its safe-haven peer.
As of Thursday, 22nd August 2013, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.1669, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.5591, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.7284, GBP NZD exchange rate was 1.9878, GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.6391, GBP CNY exchange rate was 9.5434, GBP JPY exchange rate was 153.9476, and GBP ZAR exchange rate was 16.0006.

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