The king of the US dollar continued to maintain its dominance at a two -year high until the European session with still supported by the FOMC meeting minutes report.
The published minutes of the meeting show most policymakers are ready for an interest rate hike of 50 basis points at the next policy meeting.
The Fed's policymakers also agreed to cut its balance sheet by $ 95 million a month, which includes $ 60 billion in its Treasury holdings and $ 35 billion in mortgage-backed securities over three months.
The strengthening of the greenback has pushed commodity currencies, the Aussie and New Zealand dollars to decline from monthly highs after the Fed’s hawkish statement eased investor excitement over the prospect of a rate hike by the Australian Central Bank (RBA).
The Canadian dollar also slipped to a one -week low amid weakness in world crude oil trade and a strong US dollar. Canadian jobs data on Friday will be the focus of loonie dollar investors ahead of the close of weekend trading.
Meanwhile, the euro continued to trade gloomily at its weakest level in nearly two years ahead of the publication of minutes of a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting that is not expected to be as hawkish as the Fed’s.
On the other hand, the yen was pressed to a one-week low against the US dollar after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its outlook on the Japanese economy for the year due to rising commodity prices from the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
Events that will be the focus of investors at today’s New York session are the U.S. jobless claims report, speeches by Fed policymaker and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
