News: FOREX-Dollar pares losses after central banks raise rates

  1. 191,622 Posts.
    lightbulb Created with Sketch. 2809

    (Updates prices, adds analyst comment)

    The dollar pared earlier losses on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve sounded close to calling time on interest rate hikes, while the Swiss National Bank and Bank of England pushed ahead with further rate increases.

    The Fed raised its benchmark funds rate 25 basis points on Wednesday, but dropped language about "ongoing increases" being needed in favor of "some additional" rises.

    The Fed's hike was notable given that financial markets have been roiled by wavering confidence in banks globally following a run on Silicon Valley Bank SIVB.O two weeks ago and the sudden demise of Credit Suisse CSGN.S .

    "If the banking crisis should meaningfully calm, and inflation remain stubbornly high, that could be a recipe to help revive the dollar because maybe the Fed could go back to fighting inflation at full steam, and not be as concerned about the banking crisis putting a meaningful dent in the economy," said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Convera.

    The dollar index =USD , which measures the currency against six major peers, was last up 0.078% at 102.510, set for its first winning day after five straight days of losses.

    "There seems to be not necessarily a lot of flight to safety," said Juan Perez, director of trading at Monex USA.

    "It's actually more like there's a sense that if the banking world is doing OK, and the banking world is going to be bailed out every time it seems to be in trouble, that things in general are going to survive and be fine."

    Markets are betting on just one more quarter-point hike from the Fed, in contrast to Europe where markets see around 50 bps of further tightening.

    The gap sent the euro EUR=EBS surging to a seven-week high of $1.0930, before moving downward. It was last at $1.08480.

    "It seems like the (European Central Bank) may be carrying the most hawkish baton right now because it just seems like they have more rate hikes on the table than other central banks at the moment," said Manimbo.

    The Bank of England raised borrowing costs by 25 bps on Thursday, in line with expectations, and said further tightening would be required if there were evidence of more persistent price pressures.

    Sterling GBP=D3 gained 0.13% against the dollar to $1.22845.

    The Swiss National Bank (SNB) also raised its policy rate by 50 basis points as the central bank sought to balance tackling inflation with concerns about financial market turmoil.

    The SNB said measures announced by authorities at the weekend regarding Credit Suisse had "put a halt to the crisis."

    The dollar CHF=EBS fell against the franc after the decision and was last down 0.19% at 0.916.

    	======================================================== 
    	Currency bid prices at 3:03PM (1903 GMT) 
    
     Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	   High Bid	Low Bid 
    											  Previous				   Change					
    											  Session											  
     Dollar index	  =USD	   102.5000	   102.4400	+0.08%		 -0.957%	   +102.6300   +101.9100 
     Euro/Dollar	   EUR=EBS	$1.0843		$1.0856	 -0.09%		 +1.22%		+$1.0930	+$1.0829 
     Dollar/Yen		JPY=EBS	130.8700	   131.5000	-0.49%		 -0.19%		+131.6550   +130.4150 
     Euro/Yen		  EURJPY=	141.96		 142.67	  -0.50%		 +1.18%		+143.1900   +141.4600 
     Dollar/Swiss	  CHF=EBS	0.9157		 0.9175	  -0.19%		 -0.96%		+0.9180	 +0.9120 
     Sterling/Dollar   GBP=D3	 $1.2281		$1.2269	 +0.13%		 +1.58%		+$1.2343	+$1.2263 
     Dollar/Canadian   CAD=D3	 1.3709		 1.3732	  -0.18%		 +1.17%		+1.3733	 +1.3631 
     Aussie/Dollar	 AUD=D3	 $0.6684		$0.6685	 +0.10%		 -1.83%		+$0.6755	+$0.6674 
     Euro/Swiss		EURCHF=	0.9930		 0.9957	  -0.27%		 +0.35%		+0.9997	 +0.9925 
     Euro/Sterling	 EURGBP=	0.8827		 0.8847	  -0.23%		 -0.19%		+0.8865	 +0.8822 
     NZ				NZD=D3	 $0.6257		$0.6222	 +0.64%		 -1.39%		+$0.6294	+$0.6221 
     Dollar/Dollar																					 
    
     Dollar/Norway	 NOK=D3	 10.3860		10.4500	 -0.77%		 +5.67%		+10.4620	+10.2770 
     Euro/Norway	   EURNOK=	11.2626		11.3537	 -0.80%		 +7.33%		+11.3675	+11.2025 
     Dollar/Sweden	 SEK=	   10.3162		10.3068	 -0.02%		 -0.88%		+10.3461	+10.2175 
     Euro/Sweden	   EURSEK=	11.1885		11.1908	 -0.02%		 +0.35%		+11.2360	+11.1536 
    	<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
    World FX rates	https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E 
    
    	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>                    
 
arrow-down-2 Created with Sketch. arrow-down-2 Created with Sketch.