The post US Dollar Index drifts lower below 107.00 ahead of Fed rate decision appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

The US Dollar trades in negative territory around 106.85 in Wednesday’s early European session. US Retail sales jumped 0.7% MoM in November after an upwardly revised 0.5% gain prior, according to the US Census Bureau. The Fed is anticipated to lower interest rates by 25 bps to a range of 4.25% to 4.50%. The US Dollar Index (DXY) trades with a mild negative bias near 106.85 during the early European trading hours on Wednesday. The speculation that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will adopt a more cautious stance on cutting interest rates might provide some support to the US Treasury bond yields and the US Dollar (USD).  The US Census Bureau revealed on Tuesday that Retail Sales in the US climbed by 0.7% MoM in November versus a 0.5% increase (revised from 0.4%) in October. This figure came in stronger than the expectation of a 0.5% increase. Meanwhile, US Industrial Production came in below the market consensus, declining by 0.1% MoM in November, compared to a fall of 0.4% (revised from -0.3%) in October. However, the US Retail Sales data had no impact on expectations that the Fed would reduce interest rates at its December meeting on Wednesday.  The US central bank is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision at its December meeting on Wednesday. The markets expect that the Fed will cut rates for the third time in a row, bringing the Federal Funds Rate lower to a target range of 4.25% to 4.50%. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, there is now a 97.1% odds of a 25 basis points (bps) rate cut, while the probability of maintaining current rates stands at 4.6%.  Jacob Channel, senior economist at LendingTree, said that the Fed will likely proceed with a 25 bps reduction at its upcoming meeting, but there may not be further…

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Filed under: News - @ December 18, 2024 6:24 am