FED Still on Course to Raise Interest Rates

Yesterday saw the market stay in a fairly stagnant state for much of day due to major data being released which kept the market relatively quiet throughout the morning to early afternoon. However, it was later in the evening that the market started to react to a Speech taking place in the States.

Federal reserve chairman Jerome Powell gave his inaugural testimony to Congress where he stated that the recent change in FED leadership is unlikely to deter the central bank from continuing to raise interest rates, whilst going on to say that he still expects there to be another interest rate hike in March, should this be the case then we can expect the greenback to claw back some gains back that it has lost since the start of this year.

With that being said since the Dollar has already gained nearly a cent on the half on sterling and over a cent on the Euro. Should you have a dollar requirement coming up within the next few weeks then it may be prudent to get something in place sooner rather than later due to the imminent interest rate hikes due in the US.

Some data of note to keep your eye on should you have an imminent requirement for currency. Firstly starting in the Eurozone at 10 am as Consumer price index is to be announced, it is expected to be a better figure than last month which could give the Euro a kick start early doors.

Later in the afternoon over to the US at 13.30 as GDP is to be released which is expected to be a contraction from last month’s reading and finally staying in the US as core personal consumption expenditures are released is expected to come in better than last month’s reading. Stay in contact with your account manager here at Currency Index.