Dollar Index Consolidates Around 106 Mark

Published on Oct 20, 2023 11:45

The dollar index is seen consolidating around 106 mark on Friday following remarks by Fed chair Jerome Powell in his speech yesterday. Powell stated that FOMC members are committed to achieving a stance of policy that is sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation sustainably down to 2 percent over time, and to keeping policy restrictive until they are confident that inflation is on a path to that objective. The dollar index dropped to a low of 105.75 yesterday before recovering to around 106 levels after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell failed to signal a hike at the central bank`s next rate decision. Meanwhile, treasury yields also took a breather today although they continue to stay around recent peaks of 4.9%. Currently, the dollar index quotes at 106.13. Meanwhile, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. unexpectedly declined to a nearly nine-month low in the week ended October 14th. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 198,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week`s revised level of 211,000. Among the basket currencies, EURUSD is at $1.0599, down marginally on the day whereas GBPUSD is down 0.2% at $1.2124.