The US dollar started 2018 extremely week, extending the trend from 2017 and falling against all of its major rivals.
Traders continued to doubt that the Federal Reserve will be able to fulfill its plans of three interest rate hikes this year. Coupled with expectations of tighter monetary policy from central banks of other developed nations, that means the dollar is losing its major supporting factor — disparity between monetary policy in the United States and abroad.
Today’s docket was light on economic data in the United States, the IHS Markit US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index being the only noticeable report. The seasonally adjusted final revision of the PMI showed an increase from 53.9 in November to 55.1 in December, in line with the preliminary reading and market expectations.
The rest of the week should be much more eventful, with plenty of economic reports. The major highlights include: manufacturing and services reports from the Institute for Supply Management, jobless claims, employment data from Automatic Data Processing, and nonfarm payrolls.
EUR/USD rallied from 1.2013 to 1.2048 as of 19:38 GMT today, and its daily high of 1.2080 was the highest since September 8. GBP/USD jumped from 1.3524 to 1.3594. USD/JPY dropped from 112.63 to 112.31, touching the low of 112.05 intraday — the lowest level since December 15.
If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the US Dollar,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.