U.S. Dollar Flat Ahead of Fed

U.S. Dollar Flat Ahead of Fed

Jan 30, 2019

The greenback was flat on Wednesday as investors waited for the Federal Reserve press conference later in the day.

The Fed is expected to leave interest rates on hold after raising them four times last year.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.06% to 95.572 as of 11:33 AM ET (16:33 GMT).

Investors will be listening into Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference for clues on slowing monetary policy. Recent dovish comments from Powell and other Fed officials point to the central bank taking a more cautious stance amid concerns of slowing global growth.

"We believe the Fed is likely to show the flexibility markets are seeking at its upcoming meeting, as it balances still solid domestic economic growth against slower global growth and less significant, but persistent, domestic risks," said John Lynch, Chief Investment Strategist at LPL Financial.

Meanwhile, the pound rose slightly after falling steeply late on Tuesday after the U.K. Parliament rejected an amendment that would have delayed Brexit. GBP/USD inched up 0.05% to 1.3070.

Elsewhere, the euro dipped with EUR/USD slipping 0.06% to 1.1421.

The risk-sensitive Australian and New Zealand dollars were higher, with AUD/USD jumping 0.57% to 0.7193 and NZD/USD up 0.07% to 0.6836.

-- Reuters contributed to this report.

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