Forex Today: Powell boosts the greenback

What you need to know on Thursday, September 23:

The greenback ended Wednesday higher against most major rivals, as the US Federal Reserve was quite hawkish, hinting at clearer definitions on tapering timing in its upcoming November meeting. “If progress continues broadly as expected, the Committee judges that a moderation in the pace of asset purchases may soon be warranted,” the FOMC’s statement said.

 Chief Jerome Powell said that, while the inflation threshold for tapering has already been achieved, the one for employment is only seen by “many” FOMC members but not all. "Many on FOMC think the test for employment to taper has been met; others think it is close," he said. Among other things, Powell said that the Fed can easily move ahead at the next meeting... or not. He added that he does not need to see an impressive employment report, just a good one to get convinced the job sector has reached the desired threshold.

EUR/USD peaked at 1.1755, but finally pierced the 1.1700 level, trading in the 1.1690 price zone. GBP/USD trades around 1.3620, approaching August low at 1.3601. The USD/JPY pair advanced, currently trading around 109.80.

Commodity-linked currencies closed the day little changed vs the greenback, as gains in global equities have limited their slumps. AUD/USD hovers around 0.7240, while USDCAD is marginally lower at around 1.2770.

Spot gold finished the day in the red at $1,767.50 a troy ounce. Crude oil prices were up, after commercial crude oil inventories in the US decreased by 3.5 million barrels in the week ending September 17. WTI trades around $ 72.00 a barrel.

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