Forex Today: Dollar keeps rallying, gold plummets
|What you need to know on Thursday, February 18:
Demand for the greenback persisted, backed by higher US Treasury yields, as those on long-term government debt reached fresh one-year highs. Upbeat US Retail Sales, probably as a result of stimulus checks, further supported the American currency.
The FOMC published the Minutes of their latest meeting, which showed that policymakers believe it’s premature to talk about tapering QE, as assets purchases would remain at current levels until Q1 2022. Policymakers also noted that the pace of the economic recovery has moderated in recent months.
European indexes closed in the red, but US ones managed to trim most of their early losses following the release of the FOMC Meeting Minutes, amid renewed hopes for more easy money coming.
The shared currency was the worst performer, nearing 1.2000 against its American rival. GBP/USD lost the 1.3900 threshold but the downside remains limited by upbeat UK inflation figures.
Gold prices plummeted. The bright metal traded as low as $1,769.40 a troy ounce, a fresh 2021 low, ending the day around 1,774. Crude oil prices began the day with the wrong footing, but recovered ahead of the close, amid output disruptions in the US due to freezing temperatures in Texas.
European restrictive measures due to the ongoing pandemic will likely continue. Vaccines´ roll-out goes slowly but marching, yet the number of new cases is far from optimal. In the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that restrictive measures will be lifted with caution, adding that he expects the process to be irreversible.
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