US Dollar Index holds onto gains near 98.00 ahead of US flash Q4 GDP, PMI data
- US Dollar Index clings to gains near the four-week high of 98.00, driven by balanced FOMC Minutes.
- Fed officials are not in a hurry to cut interest rates as inflation has remained above the 2% target.
- Investors await the preliminary US Q4 GDP and S&P Global PMI data for February.
The US Dollar (USD) shows strength during the early European trading session on Friday, with the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trading firmly near an almost four-week high of 98.00 posted the previous day.
US Dollar Price This week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 1.01% | 1.51% | 1.69% | 0.56% | 0.41% | 1.30% | 0.97% | |
| EUR | -1.01% | 0.50% | 0.69% | -0.44% | -0.61% | 0.29% | -0.04% | |
| GBP | -1.51% | -0.50% | -0.06% | -0.94% | -1.09% | -0.21% | -0.54% | |
| JPY | -1.69% | -0.69% | 0.06% | -1.10% | -1.24% | -0.38% | -0.66% | |
| CAD | -0.56% | 0.44% | 0.94% | 1.10% | -0.20% | 0.74% | 0.41% | |
| AUD | -0.41% | 0.61% | 1.09% | 1.24% | 0.20% | 0.91% | 0.57% | |
| NZD | -1.30% | -0.29% | 0.21% | 0.38% | -0.74% | -0.91% | -0.33% | |
| CHF | -0.97% | 0.04% | 0.54% | 0.66% | -0.41% | -0.57% | 0.33% |
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 US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
The US Dollar has been outperforming since the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Minutes of the January policy meeting on Wednesday, which showed that officials are not in a hurry to cut interest rates soon.
Federal Reserve (Fed) officials are not in a rush to ease monetary conditions further as inflationary pressures in the United States (US) have remained above the central bank’s target of 2%.
Theoretically, signals from the Fed holding interest rates steady after executing a monetary-easing cycle are favorable for the US Dollar.
In Friday’s session, major triggers for the US Dollar will be the preliminary Q4 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for February, which will be released during North American trading hours.
The US economy is estimated to have expanded at an annualized pace of 3%, slower than 4.4% growth seen in the third quarter of 2025. S&P Global Composite PMI is seen higher from the previous release of 53.0 due to improvement in both manufacturing and the service sector activity.
Economic Indicator
Gross Domestic Product Annualized
The real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Annualized, released quarterly by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, measures the value of the final goods and services produced in the United States in a given period of time. Changes in GDP are the most popular indicator of the nation’s overall economic health. The data is expressed at an annualized rate, which means that the rate has been adjusted to reflect the amount GDP would have changed over a year’s time, had it continued to grow at that specific rate. Generally speaking, a high reading is seen as bullish for the US Dollar (USD), while a low reading is seen as bearish.
Read more.Next release: Fri Feb 20, 2026 13:30 (Prel)
Frequency: Quarterly
Consensus: 3%
Previous: 4.4%
Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis
The US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) releases the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth on an annualized basis for each quarter. After publishing the first estimate, the BEA revises the data two more times, with the third release representing the final reading. Usually, the first estimate is the main market mover and a positive surprise is seen as a USD-positive development while a disappointing print is likely to weigh on the greenback. Market participants usually dismiss the second and third releases as they are generally not significant enough to meaningfully alter the growth picture.
Author
Sagar Dua
FXStreet
Sagar Dua is associated with the financial markets from his college days. Along with pursuing post-graduation in Commerce in 2014, he started his markets training with chart analysis.
