NEW YORK: The US dollar gained in late trading on Tuesday, after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) released the minutes of its meeting ending Nov 1, reported Xinhua.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.13 per cent to 103.5696 in late trading.
The synopsis of the meeting, conducted from Oct 31 to Nov 1, indicated that members of the FOMC remained concerned about the possibility of persistent or elevated inflation, suggesting the potential necessity for further actions.
“In discussing the policy outlook, participants continued to judge that it was critical that the stance of monetary policy be kept sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to the Committee’s two per cent objective over time,“ the minutes said.
The minutes didn’t hint at any deliberation among members regarding the timing of initiating rate reductions, a sentiment that was echoed in Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press briefing after the meeting.
“The fact is, the Committee is not thinking about rate cuts right now at all,“ Powell said during his press conference on Nov 1.
“The overall tone of the FOMC minutes was cautiously hawkish – the commitment to remaining in restrictive territory for ‘some time’ was the clearest takeaway,“ said Ian Lyngen, strategist with BMO Capital Markets.
All three major US stock indexes were lower, while the US dollar rose further after the minutes, reaching a fresh daily high.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to US$1.0915 from US$1.0946 in the previous session, and the British pound rose to US$1.2540 from US$1.2510 in the previous session.
The US dollar bought 148.3330 Japanese yen, higher than 148.3030 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar fell to 0.8838 Swiss francs from 0.8843 Swiss francs, and it fell to 1.3699 Canadian dollars from 1.3722 Canadian dollars. The US dollar increased to 10.4590 Swedish kronor from 10.4398 Swedish kronor. - Bernama, Xinhua
