The hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve are still feeding the dollar which has maintained its strength against the pound and the euro.
There were hints from the bank’s so-called ‘dot plot’ that interest rates may be set to rise sooner than expected. Dot plots work by members of the FOMC placing dots where they think future interest rates will be. In the most recent monetary policy meeting, the number of FOMC members who believe that rates will rise in 2023 increased to 13, up from 7 in March.
Initial jobless claims for the US are released every Thursday and for the last six weeks have fallen. However, yesterday it was revealed that unemployment claims have risen for the first time since April, suggesting that the US has not yet fully overcome the economic effects of the pandemic.
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