The dollar was looking stronger throughout yesterday as it recovered from its year-end slump. US Manufacturing PMI for December was revised slightly lower to 52.4 and below the reading from this time last year, but remained within expansion territory.
US Initial Jobless Claims for December beat forecasts at 222,000, providing some support for the dollar.
FOMC meeting minutes are due to come out this evening. They could reiterate Jerome Powell’s previous ‘dovish’ comment that it would require a sustained increase in inflation for the Fed to consider raising interest rates.
This morning there have been reports that President Trump sanctioned the killing of Iran’s most powerful military commander, General Qasem Soleimani. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said “severe revenge awaits the criminals” behind the attack and announced three days of mourning. The relationship between the US and Iran was already fraught with tensions, so we could see the situation escalate further in the coming weeks.
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