The dollar stabilized against major currencies on Friday as investors weighed unclear US consumer price inflation data in light of bets that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates within March.
U.S. consumer prices rose in December as rents continued to rise, rising 0.3% in the month, an annual increase of 3.4%, compared with economists’ expectations in a Reuters poll of a rise in 0.2% monthly and 3.2% annually.
According to CME’s FeedWatch tool, 73.2% of traders expect the first U.S. interest rate cut of 25 basis points to come in March, with several more cuts in the future.
The dollar index stood at 102.25, down from yesterday’s highest level of 102.76 on Thursday, but much higher than its five-month low of 100.61, reached in December , when traders began to anticipate the possibility of cutting US interest rates several times during the current year.
The euro settled near $1.0977 following gains against the US currency the previous day, while the British pound traded at $1.2776, up 0.1% on the day.
Meanwhile, the yen traded near 145.11 against the dollar, moving away from a one-month low of 146.41 hit on Thursday.
As for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin was unchanged in latest trading at $46,118, having risen to its highest level in two years overnight after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission gave the green light on Wednesday. to exchange-traded funds that invest directly in Bitcoin.
2024-01-12 07:18:30
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