GBP/USD jumps above 1.4100 as US dollar tumbles post-Fed meeting
- DXY accelerates slide after Fed raises rates.
- GBP/USD hits highest since February.
- Fed Chairman Powell delivering press conference.
- Key event next: Bank of England decision.
After moving sideways the minutes following the release of the FOMC statement, the US Dollar turned decisively to the downside and more recently even against the Japanese yen. The GBP/USD pair gained so far more than 50 pips from the level it had before the meeting.
Cable broke above 1.4080/90 and climbed to 1.4145, reaching the highest since February 5 . Price was holding at the top with a strong bullish tone with the greenback suffering a sell-off. More gains could hit resistance at 1.4170 and then at 1.4210.
USD down despite rate hike and signals
The US central bank rose rates by 25bp as expected. It signaled two more rate hikes during the current year according to the dot plot. The decision was unanimous and the staff upgraded the economic outlook.
The greenback dropped in the market despite the Fed delivering what it was expected. The upgraded projections and the steeper path for rates in 2019 and 2020, were not enough to lift the US dollar.
On Thursday, UK data is due with the retail sales report and more importantly, the Bank of England will announce its decision on monetary policy. No change in rates is expected but as usual, analysts will look into the minutes for clues about when the BoE could raise rates again.
Author
Matías Salord
FXStreet
Matías started in financial markets in 2008, after graduating in Economics. He was trained in chart analysis and then became an educator. He also studied Journalism. He started writing analyses for specialized websites before joining FXStreet.
