Dollar Regains Bullish Strength Following Expected Hawkish Sustenance by U.S. Fed

As a result of U.S. data showing a robust labor market that could sustain the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance for longer, the U.S. dollar (USD) increased against the majority of its major rivals on Thursday.

While the economy recovered more quickly than anticipated in the third quarter, the number of Americans submitting new claims for unemployment benefits increased less than anticipated last week, indicating that the labor market is still tight.

The U.S. central bank is continuing its aggressive policy-tightening campaign because of the labor market’s resilience; last week, the Fed forecasted at least a further 75 basis points of increases in borrowing costs by the end of 2023. It increased its policy rate this year by 425 basis points from close to zero to a range of 4.25% to 4.50%, which is the highest since late 2007.

Dollar Gains Against Other Top Currencies

In other forex news, the euro (EUR) was trading at $1.05905 against the greenback, down 0.15% from its session high of 0.5%.

Meanwhile, the dollar’s exchange rate to the yen (JPY) was roughly steady at 132.49 yen, not too far off the four-month low of 130.58 yen reached on Tuesday after an unanticipated change to the Bank of Japan’s bond-yield regulations sparked wagers to strengthen the yen.

The 3.8% decline that followed Tuesday’s news has prevented the dollar from significantly recovering to this point.

After data revealed that the British economy shrank somewhat more than anticipated, the pound (GBP) dropped to a new three-week low and was down 0.44% at $1.20315.

Finally, after plummeting to a nearly eight-month low in a choppy session, the ruble (RUB) recovered some of this week’s significant losses as hopes for a positive month-end tax period allayed worries about Western sanctions on Russian oil and gas. At 68.95, the dollar’s loss against the ruble was around 2.9%.