US Dollar struggles to gather strength after Fed, attention turns to BoE
The US Dollar (USD) finds it difficult to outperform its rivals on Thursday (20/3) as markets digest the Federal Reserve's (Fed) policy announcements. The Bank of England (BoE) will release the interest rate decision later in the session and the US economic calendar will feature weekly Initial Jobless Claims data, alongside Existing Homes figures for February.
The Fed left the interest rate unchanged at 4.25%-4.5% following the March meeting, as widely anticipated. The revised Summary of Economic Projections showed that policymakers still project a total of 50 basis points (bps) reduction in rates in 2025. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for this year got revised lower to 1.7% from 2.1% in December's SEP. In the post-meeting press conference, Fed Chairman Powell reiterated that they will not be in a hurry to move on rate cuts, adding that they can maintain policy restraint for longer if the economy remains strong. The USD Index failed to make a decisive move in either direction following the Fed event and closed marginally higher on Wednesday. Early Thursday, the index moves sideways at around 103.50.
The UK's Office for National Statistics reported on Thursday that the ILO Unemployment Rate held steady at 4.4% in the three months to January, as expected. In this period, the Employment Change was up by 144,000. GBP/USD trades marginally lower on the day below 1.3000 following the UK jobs report. Later in the day, the BoE is widely anticipated to maintain its policy settings. There will not be a press conference following the release of the rate decision. Hence, investors are likely to pay close attention to the vote split.
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) will also announce policy decisions on Thursday, and it's expected to lower the policy rate by 25 bps to 0.25%. Following a two-day decline, USD/CHF found support and closed virtually unchanged on Wednesday. The pair fluctuates in a relatively tight channel above 0.8750 in the European morning.
EUR/USD lost about 0.4% on Wednesday and snapped a three-day winning streak. The pair struggles to gain traction and trades below 1.0900 to begin the European session. European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde will deliver a speech before the European Parliament on Thursday.
After testing 150.00 on Wednesday, USD/JPY reversed its direction and ended the day in the red. The pair continues to edge lower and trades below 148.50 on Thursday.
Gold closed marginally higher on Wednesday and touched a new record-high above $3,050 in the Asian session on Thursday before going into a consolidation phase below this level.
Source: Fxstreet
