Forex Today: US Dollar weakens in Fed aftermath, attention shifts to BoE Super Thursday
Here is what you need to know on Thursday, November 2:
The US Dollar stays on the back foot as markets assess the Federal Reserve's (Fed) policy decisions and Chairman Jerome Powell's remarks at the post-meeting press conference. The Bank of England (BoE) will announce the interest rate decision and Governor Andrew Bailey will deliver the Monetary Policy Report at a press conference on Super Thursday. Later in the day, weekly Initial Jobless Claims, September Factory Orders and Unit Labor Costs data for the third quarter will be featured in the US economic docket.
The Fed left its policy rate unchanged at 5.25%-5.5% as expected. Although Chairman Powell refrained from shutting the door to a rate hike in December, he adopted a cautious tone regarding the need for additional tightening. Powell acknowledged that financial conditions have tightened amid rising yields and reiterated the data-dependent approach, noting that they will have two more inflation and employment data before the December meeting. According to the CME Group FedWatch Tool, the probability of the Fed holding the interest rate steady in December rose to 80% from 69% before the meeting. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index was last seen losing 0.3% on the day below 106.50 and the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield was moving sideways below 4.75% after falling nearly 4% on Wednesday.
US Dollar price today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the weakest against the Swiss Franc.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | -0.14% | 0.00% | 0.00% | -0.10% | -0.13% | -0.13% | -0.17% | |
| EUR | 0.15% | 0.15% | 0.14% | 0.05% | 0.01% | 0.01% | -0.02% | |
| GBP | -0.02% | -0.17% | -0.01% | -0.11% | -0.13% | -0.16% | -0.19% | |
| CAD | 0.01% | -0.14% | 0.01% | -0.09% | -0.12% | -0.13% | -0.16% | |
| AUD | 0.10% | -0.03% | 0.13% | 0.12% | 0.01% | -0.03% | -0.05% | |
| JPY | 0.12% | 0.00% | 0.13% | 0.11% | 0.01% | -0.03% | -0.04% | |
| NZD | 0.16% | -0.01% | 0.13% | 0.13% | 0.03% | 0.01% | -0.04% | |
| CHF | 0.15% | 0.01% | 0.16% | 0.15% | 0.03% | 0.03% | 0.00% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
The BoE is forecast to stand pat on policy, leaving the key rate at 5.25% for the second consecutive meeting. After testing 1.2100 on Wednesday, GBP/USD gathered bullish momentum and climbed to the 1.2200 area early Thursday.
EUR/USD reversed its direction following a decline toward 1.0500 mid-week and was last seen trading in positive territory at around 1.0600.
Gold fluctuated in a wide range on Wednesday but closed the day virtually unchanged slightly above $1,980. XAU/USD holds its ground in the European morning and trades with modest gains near $1,985.
USD/JPY closed in negative territory as US yields turned south on Wednesday. The pair extended its slide during the Asian trading hours on Thursday and was last seen trading below 150.50.
(This story was corrected on November 2 at 07:17 GMT and 07:49 to say that the US Dollar was the weakest against the Swiss Franc and the USD/JPY was trading below 150.50 instead of 105.50).
Author
Eren Sengezer
FXStreet
As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.
