Dollar Pares Some Gains After Fed Policy Announcement
(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar pared some gains Wednesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve, which left interest rate unchanged, signaled two quarter percentage point cuts this year.
The Fed also lowered its GDP growth projections and raised its inflation forecast.
Traders looked ahead to the monetary policy announcements from the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank. The two banks are scheduled to announced their rate decisions on Thursday.
The Bank of Japan left its interest rate unchanged after hiking the rate by a quarter-point early this year, amid rising concerns about the US trade policies and its impact on economic activity and prices.
At a two-day meeting that ended on Wednesday, the policy board, governed by Kazuo Ueda, unanimously decided to maintain the uncollateralized overnight call rate at around 0.5%, which was the highest level since the global financial crisis in 2008.
The dollar index, which climbed to 103.91 before the central bank's policy announcement, dropped to 103.46 subsequently, but still stayed above the flat line, netting a gain of about 0.21%.
Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to 1.0905 from 1.0946. The dollar pared early gains and was roughly flat at 1.3003 against Pound Sterling.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar eased to 148.65 yen a unit, after having firmed to 150.14 yen earlier in the session. The dollar pared gains and traded at 0.6358 against the Aussie.
The Swiss franc eased slightly against the greenback at CHF 0.8773, while the Loonie weakened to 1.4330 against the U.S. dollar.
Eurozone Retail Sales Fall More Than Forecast
UK Construction Sector Continues To Shrink
European Shares Mostly Higher Before Debt Sales
Asian Shares Mostly Higher; China And Hong Kong Markets Buck Trend
German Construction Sector Downturn Deepens
Australia Trade Surplus At 17-Month High; Household Spending Growth Rises
European Shares Seen Tad Higher At Open On Fed Rate Cut Hopes
